World of Disney
by RetroWriter2012
Summary: A "Disney Adventure" tale centered on the world of Disney Animation. A young woman from the 1970s searches through the Disney Animated Universe via a reality/time-bending invention created by Bunsen Honeydew for her lost mother. Reviews are welcomed!
1. Prologue – Time Zone: Unknown

**Disclaimer:** **Some of the characters and movies referenced in _World of Disney_ are the properties of Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Pictures, and The Walt Disney Company. Muppet characters featured in the story are the properties of Muppet Studios and The Muppets Holding Company.**

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**Prologue – Time Zone: Unknown**

The clear blue eyes of Joanie Navarro finally snapped open after being closed for some time. Gasping for air, the odor of burning metal plagued her nostrils and forced her to cough out the hints that were already in her lungs. She rolled to her side, draining every bit of it all out. Just from that gesture, she felt a throbbing pain at the side of her head, which undoubtedly came from the "fiasco" that occurred earlier. Something happened earlier that she couldn't recollect completely, and the condition of the room was clear evidence of that.

All of the machinery in Dr. Bunsen Honeydew's basement laboratory was destroyed, ravaged in flames and twisted into scraps. The Magic Gateway, his reality-bending/time-swapping invention, was demolished in the process, consumed in fire just like everything else and looked to be melting away. But that seemed impossible to Joanie, as the fire was not intense enough to melt the metal of the machine. Then it hit her – _she_ melted it with her evil magic…to prevent Joanie from going after her, once she banished the others into another unknown dimension.

_I've got to get off my butt and save them_, she desperately thought. Of course, that was easier said than done, considering the incredible amount of pain she was in. She was doing all that she could just to keep the room from spinning before her very eyes. There was no way that she would be capable of performing any heroic deed at that time.

And then she heard a familiar moan nearby.

"Dr. Honeydew?" She said with a hoarse voice. Swallowing hard to clear out all the dryness in her throat, she looked to where she heard the moans come from and gathered all the strength she could to pull herself off the cluttered floor. On the way up, she noticed her horn-rimmed glasses lying on the floor – still intact after all that happened – and retrieved them, placing them right back over her eyes. Almost instantly, her vision became twice as good as when they were off.

Bunsen and his assistant, Beaker, were scattered around and lying unconscious over certain areas. However, one particular sight sent her into extreme caution: the young African American male lying near the flaming, destroyed equipment. "Oh, no…Sean!"

She quickly went over to him and pulled him away from the flaming equipment, before checking to see if he was still breathing. Thankfully, he still had a pulse and appeared to be breathing normally. Nearby, Bunsen and Beaker were starting to come out of their unconsciousness and see the damages that were caused to their laboratory. It looked to be beyond repairable, which was a devastating realization for the two Muppet scientists.

"Oh, dear. Oh, my." Bunsen said, numbing on his fingers in nervousness.

Beaker meeped his displeasure as well.

Realizing that the two regained full consciousness, Joanie glanced back at them briefly while doing her best to keep her focus on Sean. "Guys, Sean's hurt! I need your help!"

"Oh, Miss Joanie…look what that terrible woman did to our lab! It will be impossible to get all of this re…"

"BUNSEN, PLEASE!!!" Joanie exclaimed with panic and desperation registered within her voice. "He's _my son_, man!"

Snapping out of their moment of mourning, Bunsen and Beaker focused their attention on the young man who was lying on the ground, hurt and unconscious. "O-Of course. There's a medical kit upstairs that Beakie and I can retrieve for you."

Beaker nodded and meeped in approval of Bunsen's offer for help.

"That's good. That's good." Joanie remarked. "Please get it for me. I don't want to leave him here unattended." She gently lifted his upper body and rested it upon her kneeling form, checking for any signs of cuts under his short, black, curly hair.

Bunsen nodded and said, "Certainly, Miss Joanie." Both he and Beaker then climbed up the nearly ravaged wooden staircase that led out of the basement of the Muppet Theater. They crossed the backstage right of the theater, where the med kit box was bolted right against the wall. While getting the necessary medical items out of the box, Beaker meeped a question to his boss. "Why don't I have this medical kit downstairs in the lab? Well, I hardly ever get hurt during experiments, Beakie. There's no need for one."

Beaker meeped a sigh, putting his face at the palm of his hand and shaking his head slowly – it obviously was not the answer he was hoping for.

Just as soon as Bunsen and Beaker got all the items they needed to help their friend, a loud roaring sound emerged from within the dressing room in the center of the three at the upstairs landing. The thing that was inside began clawing at the door, trying to get out. The two Muppet scientists trembled at the noises, knowing full well what was inside and daring not to let it out.

In his fear, Beaker stammered a meep to Bunsen.

"Of course we can't let him out, Beaker. Without the Disney Princess from his realm, he is just a wild, untamed _beast_. And letting him out will not only put us in danger, but every other living being in this time period as well." While he and his assistant headed back downstairs to the basement again, Beaker meeped an inquiry to Bunsen. "I'm not certain of what particular year we're in. All of the equipment in the lab was destroyed from the previous 'incident'. The best way to find out would be to venture into the sublevel of the theater, where we've housed the generator for the machine."

Beaker meeped a remark to Bunsen's statement, as the two finally made it back into the wrecked laboratory and gave the medical items to Joanie to help treat the wounds on her son's head. Watching her flawlessly handle the treatment, Bunsen and Beaker's thoughts went to what she said a short moment ago – admitting that Sean was _her_ son. Here this young man was, from a totally different time period than his mother's, and he was practically the same age as her – yet, in recent days, she was acting just like one to him. It was quite uncanny; and in their field, that would be a phenomenal scientific discovery. If there was one positive thing to come from their experiment, it was bringing this mother and her son together.

"What generator?" Joanie suddenly asked them, wrapping thin gauze around Sean's wound.

Bunsen barely realized she asked him a question. "I beg your pardon?"

"While coming in, you said that there's a generator for the machine in the sublevel of the theater. What does it do?"

Bunsen shared a glance with Beaker and responded, "It's rather complicated, Miss Joanie."

She chuckled at his remark. "Dude, this whole experience has been complicated for me. I just want to know what it does. If it means saving the rest of my family – past, present, _and_ future – then I'll accept whatever weird science you two have got to explain."

Bunsen nodded in approval and went to his workbench, which was barely still standing at the center of the room. Reaching into one of the drawers, he pulled out a long, rolled-up sheet of paper and spread it out near Joanie, who tried not to move herself in order to keep Sean's head leveled. It turned out to have been blueprints to the design of the machine's generator, which looked very funky to Joanie (and even Bunsen and Beaker themselves – they designed it). It was an 18-story geodesic sphere with over a million different components working together to power up one small machine inside of a basement.

"This is the Magic Gateway's generator, Miss Joanie." Bunsen indicated. "Its entire structure works as a conduit – or battery – for the machine that used to be right over there." He pointed the contorted hunk of metal standing at the wall. "Fortunately, the generator is still backing up power to another source…a _second_ gateway."

It was this point to where Joanie was, as she expected to be, confused. "So…it's a backup of a backup?"

"Precisely," clarified Bunsen, before he pointed to the very center of the sphere, where there appeared to have been a room that was the same size and shape of the basement they were in. "In this room is another Magic Gateway machine that has all of the same functions of the one prior. We can use it to find our friends and your family and bring them back to their respective realms and times."

He skipped ahead of all the technical mumbo jumbo and went right to the solution of their problem, which was exactly the way she wanted it to be delivered to her. Lost in her delight from the news, she almost didn't hear the young man resting on her lap groaning. As if things were looking up already, Sean was regaining consciousness – a great sign to show that he wasn't seriously injured or worse from the recent encounter. Opening his dark brown eyes, the first person he saw was Joanie, who was smiling at him – although from his upside-down perspective, it looked more like a frown.

"Something wrong?" he asked her.

Tears began to form beneath her eyelids as she looked down upon him. "No…nothing's wrong. Everything's just perfect, man."

His eyes darted from her to the room, seeing how ravaged it appeared. Memories of recent events began to catch up with him, and he realized what happened prior to his unconscious state. "Oh, no! Where is everybody? Where's Kim? Where's Meagan? Cici? Kermit? Gonz…"

Joanie felt him trying to get up, but she quickly settled him down before he could've done so. "Shh! Shh! Calm down. It's okay. We're going to find them."

He shook his head negatively. "It's all my fault."

"No, no. Don't say that."

"It is! Because they wanted to give up on finding your mother – _our_ grandmother – and I just…I couldn't let it go."

Joanie sighed, feeling the opposite way; she felt like it was _her_ fault, not his own. "You were just helping me…which I appreciate more than you know. Seriously, man." Saying that, she took her right hand and grasped onto his.

Sean still felt ashamed, but he was relieved to know that his own mother was proud of him regardless. If she knew the type of relationship they had in the past (or, in her case, _will_ have in the _future_), she would question her role as a mother more than she already had been since they met through Bunsen and Beaker's experiment. He didn't want that, especially considering how close they were becoming. What he did want was to get up and stop feeling so useless.

He made another attempt, which Joanie once again tried to avert. "No, no. Stay down and rest."

"No, I'm going to help you all find the others," he declared, finally getting to his feet while fighting the pain that was throbbing in his head. "I heard you three talking about some sort of second Gateway machine."

Joanie groaned in annoyance – he was definitely her son, seeing how hard-headed and determined he appeared to be. She honestly couldn't blame him, with all that happened earlier. It was such a devastating blow that they couldn't just sit around and lick their wounds. With a hint of regret, she admitted, "Bunsen says there's a generator beneath the Muppet Theater that's powering another machine – one that will help us find everyone who's missing here."

Sean nodded with a hopeful smile. "Great! Then let's get down there and get to business."

"It might be a hard process to get to the generator, Mister Sean." Bunsen revealed to him.

"Well, how hard are talking about?" Joanie inquired.

Beaker meeped a statement to Bunsen that neither Joanie nor Sean could decipher. From the nervous way he delivered it, they knew it couldn't be good. Bunsen, the only one who could interpret his speech, answered, "It's the only way to reach it, Beaker. The Initiative never allowed us to have any access to it through the Muppet Theater, because they feared unauthorized personnel would discover its existence."

Joanie felt like she and her son were completely being left out of the loop. One Muppet was talking in "meeps," while the other was talking in plain English, although none of what he said made any sense. "Uh, guys? Hello? Wanna explain to us what the heck you're talking about?"

Bunsen hesitated briefly and finally addressed them about it. "Depending upon the time zone we are currently in…we may or may not have to take a submarine to reach the generator."

Joanie and Sean's eyes widened in disbelief at what the Muppet scientist just revealed to them. "It's underwater? I thought you said it was beneath the theater?" Sean responded.

"No, no. The generator _is_ underground." Bunsen clarified. "It's just…it's part a system that only DHARMA Initiative members can gain access through."

The eyes of Joanie Navarro shut very hard in frustration; this was, of course, accompanied by a deep, disgruntling sigh. Meanwhile, her son was even more perplexed from her reaction. "What? What is the DHARMA Initiative?"

"A project that consists of a lot of researchers, scientists, inventors…you name it they've got it." Joanie told him. "Bunsen and Beaker registered as members back in 1974."

"Some of the research we do for them is here at Muppet Labs."

"Including a giant golf ball-looking thing that's practically housed in one of their stations," said the irritated Joanie, "which the rest of us have to obtain membership just to gain access to."

Hearing about the imagery of the generator's design, Sean got a sense of déjà vu. He knew he heard such a description before, but couldn't quite place his finger on it. It wasn't until his foot came in contact with the blueprints to the generator that he looked down and saw the familiar structure for the first time. With a grin on his face, he knelt down slowly – trying not to bring back the throbbing in his head – to pick it up and gaze at it closely.

"You mean to tell me that the design for your generator was inspired by _Spaceship Earth_?" He asked a question that garnered some confused stares from Joanie, Bunsen, and Beaker.

"Spaceship What?" Joanie asked.

He showed her the blueprints again, circling his index finger over its structure. "In my time, this is all one big attraction known as _Spaceship Earth_ in Disney's _EPCOT_ theme park. It's practically the symbol of the park – something everyone who goes there identifies with."

For a moment, he completely forgot that he was conversing with people who were literally from a different time period as him, as they each exchanged wondrous and perplexed glances. In response to his revelation, Bunsen asked a crucial question, "When did this theme park open?"

Sean, being the Disney expert that he was, thought through his knowledge on the famous company and searched for the exact answer that Bunsen was expecting. Snapping his fingers and closing his eyes, he concentrated hard on it, until he finally discovered the information stored within his mind. "October 1982."

Bunsen then appeared deeply lost in thought, which Joanie noticed instantly. It was a look that she was all too familiar with in the years that she lived in the Muppet Theater – his thumb and index finger were rubbing along his chin, as he was looking down towards the floor. Trying not to smile at the sight, she asked, "What're you thinking, Bunsen?"

"Hmm? Oh! Well, I'm thinking that if what your son just said is the truth, then I believe we have an alternative to reaching the generator. That is, and I again state for scientific reasons, depending on the time zone we are currently in."

Sean shook his head and chuckled at his theory. "Wait, wait, wait! You're saying that this DHARMA Initiative could've somehow transported this gigantic mechanism from underground the Muppet Theater to _above_ ground. That sounds a little implausible, don't you think?"

"Not for a project like the DHARMA Initia…"

"Shh!" Joanie suddenly demanded of the group with an expression on her face that made it seem as if she was focusing on something other than the conversation Sean and Bunsen were having.

Noticing that expression, Sean curiously asked, "What is it?"

She glanced up at him in surprise. "You don't hear that?!"

"Hear what?"

"The Mickey Mouse March!"

As if he weren't confused enough already from all that was happening in the past minutes, this was the most puzzling for Sean, Bunsen, and Beaker. The room was absolutely silent to them; and as far as they were concerned, they were the only four people in the theater after the incident that occurred earlier. Sean knew that he suffered quite a head trauma from it, and he began to wonder if Joanie did as well. There she was, unbeknownst to even herself, humming the tune to the _Mickey Mouse Club_ theme song.

It then started getting louder and clearer to her, driving her to the point that she got off her knees and headed up the rickety staircase. Greatly concerned about her, Sean followed suit. He chased her through several areas within the Muppet Theater, from Backstage Right to the storage room. Everywhere, except for the particular dressing room where they were holding the _beastly_ creature inside.

Sean was just about out of breath when he followed her back to the room they started in, stopping near the stage door lobby in the reception area. "Wait a minute! Wait a minute! Are you…are you alright?"

Joanie was out of breath herself, but didn't care all that much about it. She was on a mission and couldn't let anything stop her – not even Sean. "That music…it's bringing back so many memories. I…I can't exactly explain it. Just…Just trust me, okay?"

She then bolted out through the stage door, with her son following. However, just as he stood in the doorway, something extremely bizarre happened – she vanished. All that he saw was the back alley, which the sunset was slightly illuminating. It was very odd and confusing; and as much as he gazed around to find her, there was not a single trace of where she went.

_Where did she go?_

But the more appropriate question he should've been asking himself…_When_ did she go?


	2. Chapter One: Time Zone 1977 Before TD

**Chapter One – Time Zone: 1977 (Before ****Temporal Displacement)**

_Jive Talkin'_

_You're telling me lies, yeah_

_Jive Talkin'_

_You wear a disguise_

_Jive Talkin'_

_So misunderstood, yeah_

_Jive Talkin'_

_You just ain't no good_

The 1975 song from the Bee Gees practically exploded through the speakers within the new brown Lincoln Versailles owned by Joanie Navarro, as she drove it down the same street where the Muppet Theater was located. In the passenger seat of the vehicle was her old friend, Scooter, who was the resident "gofer" of the Muppet Theater and nephew of the theater owner, J.P. Grosse. He volunteered to accompany Joanie and her cousin, Tracy, to their trip in Africa where they got to know about the culture and people. Joanie even met an African representative of the program named Tomas (which was pronounced similar to "Thomas") and was instantly enchanted by him, offering a visit to the States whenever possible.

It was that reason why Joanie was in such a positive mood on the way back to the Theater. After the plane ride home and dropping Tracy off at her home in Tallahassee, Scooter was just about exhausted. But there was Joanie, as happy as she could be, tapping her fingers on the steering wheel to the tune of the Bee Gees. The time was seven o'clock in the evening – just about the right time for Scooter to hit the sack upon his return home.

"Joanie," he said through a groggily voice, "Could you possibly turn down the music? I can barely focus keeping my head up."

She glanced at him, seeing how exhausted he was, and turned down the music. "Sorry, Scoot. I'm just so…I just can't express how enlightening that trip was. Africa is such a beautiful place, from the people to the culture to even the land. What was your favorite pa…?"

A snoring sound filled the Lincoln's interior, as Scooter finally feel asleep in the passenger seat. Joanie grinned, shaking her head at the tired little gofer. She kept the volume of the eight-track down to a minimum, while heading the rest of the way down to the Muppet Theater. It wasn't very long when they did arrive at their destination, and she pulled her car into the back alley of the theater, parking it there for the night.

Joanie took it upon herself to carry the sleeping gofer in her arms while heading through the stage door. In the reception area, she was greeted by the elderly Muppet known as Pops, who worked as the stage doorman at the Muppet Theater. Due to his failing eyesight and poor memory, Pops asked the young brunette in the bright tie-dye t-shirt and bell bottom pants, "Who're you?"

"Pops, you remember me. It's Joanie…Joanie Navarro…the daughter of the Muppet Theater's background artist, Diana Navarro?"

Pops appeared to have been drawing a total blank. "Er…you sure that you ain't that little girl from _Little House on the Prairie_?"

"Melissa Gilbert?"

The old Muppet then glanced down at the guest list, reading all of the names and searching for the one that Joanie uttered. "Nope. Don't have a 'Melissa Gilbert' on here. Gonna hafta make a reservation with the frog, missy."

"Pops!" There came the voice of an older woman who approached the area and Joanie and Pops turned to see that it was Joanie's mother, Diana. She was dressed just as hip as her daughter, wearing a silk white blouse and bell bottom jeans. "Are you givin' my little girl trouble again?"

"For the fifth month in a row, he is!" Joanie remarked in aggravation.

Pops glanced at Joanie again, adjusting his glasses. "Oh, is that you? Heh! Didn't even recognize ya." He then glanced at the guest list and confirmed her admission there. "Yep! Right here at the _bottom_ of the list – right beneath Beauregard and Gonzo."

Joanie flashed a sarcastic smile. "Gee, thanks."

She walked off a little peeved at the absent-mindedness of the elderly Muppet, with her mother following at her side. Diana whispered to her daughter with a smile, "Don't worry about him. He's just old."

"What was that?" Pops asked.

"I said that you're _gold_, Pops." Diana fibbed.

"Thank ya!"

Mother and daughter laughed on their way through the backstage right area. Diana noticed Scooter being carried in Joanie's arms, sleeping and snoring away every second. "Aww, is Scooter all tuckered out?"

"Yeah." Joanie confirmed. "The trip practically exhausted the poor little fella. Mind taking him into one of the dressing rooms? I've gotta talk to Kermit about something."

As she took Scooter off her hands (literally), Diana informed her daughter, "Might have to wait a while, 'cause he and the band are performing on stage right now."

"They are?" Joanie remarked, just as she heard the audience in attendance for that night's performance roar with applause for an onstage act performed by Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem band with Kermit the Frog.

"Yep. They've been performing for an hour." Diana said. "It's a packed house tonight, too. We hadn't gotten this many since Raquel Welch popped in last year." She noticed the look of displeasure on her daughter's face and asked in concern, "What was it that you wanted to talk with Kermit about?"

Joanie shook her head and responded, "Nothing that can't wait 'til later."

Diana stared at her for a brief moment and nodded before going upstairs to the dressing room at the center, carrying Scooter along with her. For a short time, Joanie was left alone backstage, lost in thought, which was evident from the way she was staring off into space. It wasn't until Kermit's nephew, Robin, arrived in the room did she snap out of her trance. "Heya, Joanie! Nice seeing you again! How was Africa?"

"Hey, Robin," she responded. "It was groovy. Got to see a lot of great stuff, meet a lot of wonderful people, and learn some terms."

"Really?" Robin said, genuinely intrigued. "Tell me something in African."

Joanie smiled. "Uh, okay…lemme see…" She thought carefully, searching within her mind for that current knowledge she achieved on her trip. Without even realizing it, she spouted out, "Wewe ni zuri frog, Robin."

Robin was clearly spellbound from the way she delivered the speech so fluidly. "Wow. What did you say?"

"I said, 'You are a beautiful frog, Robin' in the Swahili language."

"And you learned all of that in one week?" Robin asked, and Joanie nodded with a grin. "That's amazing."

"Yeah…it is," she uttered, not sounding all too impressed.

Robin could see how depressed she looked and, just like her mother, he asked in concern, "Everything alright?"

She realized how obviously down she was making herself look to everyone and quickly did her best to cover it up. "Oh, yeah. Of course. I'm just…" She let out a phony yawn. "…I'm just tired. That's all."

Robin shook his head at her. "Joanie, this is me you're talking to…not Gonzo."

Joanie saw no use in getting by the smart little frog – he was _definitely_ Kermit's nephew, not just from appearance but intelligence as well. So she came out and admitted, "It's just that I feel so darn useless around here."

The tiny frog was surprised to hear that from her. "How do you mean?"

"I mean that while I was in Africa for that one week, I felt like I was doing something…magical. It was like I belonged there and not here, watching my life pass me by."

"You mean that you're not happy here?" He sounded a little sad as he asked her that question.

Immediately she comforted him and clarified, "No, no. I _love_ it here. I love you and everyone who I work with. It's just…" She let out a depressed sigh. "I don't know what it is I'm looking for in my life. I just wish there were some way I could look ahead in the future and see what kind of destiny lies ahead."

Robin could see how distraught she was about this, and it made him feel really bad for her. But when it came to down moments such as this, the little frog was always good at bouncing back to the positive side of things. He cheerfully asked her, in an attempt to change the subject, "Hey, did you check out that cool new space movie that came out last week?"

Joanie smiled at him, seeing what he was doing and blessing him for his attempt. Although she still felt a little distraught, she put on her best performance (one that the smart little frog couldn't see through) and made it appear as if it worked to keep him satisfied. "Yeah! I saw it! Had to have been the best sci-fi movie I've seen since…well…_ever_! What about you?"

Robin shook his head. "Nuh-uh. But Uncle Kermit got me two tickets for a showing tonight." He showed the pair of tickets to her for a showing close to the time it currently was. "Though I think Uncle Kermit will be too busy to see it with me, on account of tonight's very special performance."

She felt really sorry for him and a little upset with Kermit for forgetting his promise to take him. It seemed like the good host was too busy to take care of anybody nowadays. Without even a second thought, she offered her friend, "C'mon, I'll go with ya. Got nothin' else better to do tonight."

Needless to say, Robin was quite taken aback from her offer. "W-What about Uncle Kermit?"

"Eh, I'll pay him back. I owe him one anyway."

Even though he was still unsure about the idea of seeing the movie with his best friend instead of his uncle, Robin graciously accepted her offer, mostly because he couldn't take another second of his uncle's inability to provide him with the attention he wanted. So he followed her out through the stage door and into the back alley where the Lincoln was still parked. Joanie opened the passenger door for Robin, allowing him to hop inside. After that, she headed over to her side – the driver's side – and was about to get in, until she heard Robin point someone out to her.

"Hey, Joanie, who's that?"

She followed his gaze and noticed – at the end of the alleyway near the collection of garbage cans – was a cloaked, shadowy figure. The face was obscured heavily, making it practically impossible for Joanie to make out who (or what) it was. "May I help you?" She asked the figure curiously, as well as cautiously.

"Huwezi kuzuia kwepeka." The figure responded with a feminine tone and in Swahili – a language that Joanie had become familiar with, but not as well as she admitted to Robin (the "beautiful frog" compliment she gave was something she had been practicing with during her time in Africa). Although what the woman just told her, and the way it was delivered, almost came clear as a bell.

Robin looked back and forth between the two women. He heard what the shadowy figure said and did not understand a word. However, aware of Joanie's recent study of the African language, he asked her, "What did she say?"

Joanie wanted to answer Robin, but she was too spellbound to utter anything. But it was especially difficult when…

_BOOM!_

Everything practically shook at the loud noise, which came from within the Muppet Theater. Alarmed, Robin hopped out of the Lincoln and dashed back inside. Joanie looked away from the shadowy visitor and followed her gaze on Robin. She called out to him, "Robin! Wait up! I…" Looking back at the end of the alleyway, she was surprised to have seen that the dark figure had vanished without a trace.

It was a bizarre occurrence to Joanie, and as much as she wanted to spend more time trying to figure it all out, she was too concerned of what happened inside of the Muppet Theater. Yes, of course, an explosion here and there in a chaotic atmosphere such as the one there was no big deal; but it was still better safe than sorry to check to see if everyone was alright. She bolted back inside the theater and ran right into the smoke-filled backstage right area. Coughing and waving her hand in front of her to clear the smoke from her nose and eyes, she realized that Robin had walked right into it and couldn't see him anywhere.

"Robin! Where are you?!" She called, but there was no response. Remembering that Pops was still in the room when they left, she turned to his desk and saw that he was absent from the scene. The elderly Muppet must've high-tailed out of there as soon as he heard the _boom_. She suddenly realized how the smoke was starting to clear a little, allowing her to see where it was coming from. Apparently the source of the chaos was none other than the basement – or "Muppet Labs," a more appropriate name for the two characters inhabiting it, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker.

Joanie headed towards the basement and, upon entering, she was consumed yet again by pillars of smoke. It was hard to see anything while she was down there, and because of this, she had taken careful precaution going down the stairs. She called out to Bunsen, Beaker, and Robin (whom she guessed had to have been down there, as soon as he noticed the smoke seeping out). There was no answer, which led her to believe that something was wrong.

Then, out of nowhere, Joanie felt her foot connect with something that threw off her equilibrium and caused her to fall forward and let out a large shriek. Joanie didn't know what part of the basement she had fallen into; but when her body connected to the floor, she was surprised to feel how cold and metallic it was – as opposed to it being warm and cemented. There came a loud noise, like a huge door coming shut, and Joanie got scared.

Between the smoke and darkness, Joanie had absolutely no idea where she was or how to get out. It wasn't until a light switched on from overhead when she was given some information on her current location. Apparently, she was standing inside a chamber with vanilla-colored walls, ceiling, and floor. It looked like something out of _Star Trek_ to her, which the giddy, geeky side of her was enjoying more than her terrified, realistic side.

With the light shining in the room, she could see the door out of the chamber; however, there was no doorknob. It was one of those automatic sliding doors that could only be opened from a computer, which meant that Joanie was in extreme danger of losing air. Panicked, she pounded her fists against its metallic structure, screaming for her mother or anyone else that could hear her. She didn't know if her voice could be heard from outside the chamber or not; but she at least hoped for a miracle.

Of course, no miracle happened; but something bizarre did. Joanie started hearing an unusual buzzing sound that accompanied the growing intensity of the light shining over her. It became brighter and brighter, until she was forced to shield her eyes from it. She felt a weird tingling sensation through every section of her body, from her clothes to her skin.

It was as if she were transforming…but into what exactly?


	3. Chapter Two: Realm Zone – 1995 Before TD

**Chapter Two: Realm**** Zone – 1995 (Before Temporal Displacement)**

Darkness – that was all Joanie could make out after the flash from the chamber. She felt as if she were placed in a completely different one at the moment, only she could not move a muscle in her body or even feel anything. It was a very frightening sensation; she couldn't tell if she was alive or dead. And as much as she wanted to scream out, she couldn't feel herself doing that either. What was going on?

Then her question seemed to have been answered (somewhat), when she heard muffled voices – one was from a young boy (she guessed he was about six years old) and his mother.

"Andy! I've got a surprise for you!"

"Okay, Mom. Be right down."

"Alright! But don't take too long!"

A light suddenly emerged before Joanie's eyes, overshadowing the darkness that had shrouded her. She would've shielded her eyes from it, with her hands or eyelids. But she surprisingly found herself unable to. It was also a surprise that her retinas weren't even affected by it in any way, especially with the absence of her eyeglasses (where were they?). However, the greatest shocker of them all was the gigantic human hand that reached down and grabbed her, pulling her "tiny" body out from what appeared to have been a chest.

Joanie was suddenly face-to-face with the six-year-old boy named Andy, who she heard from inside the chest. He was quite adorable to her, regardless of the fact that he was ten times bigger than she was. Smiling at her for a second, he set her down upright by the foot of his bed, while he returned his focus to the inside of his toy chest, which had a bit of a cowboy theme on it. As his attention was there, Joanie could see the room she was suddenly in; it was the bedroom of a child, complete with cloud wallpaper that gave the impression of a sky and drawings done in crayon of a cowboy figure hung throughout.

That's when Joanie heard a baby cooing and realized that this wasn't just Andy's bedroom, but one that he shared with his baby brother or sister as well. She wished that she could turn her head to clarify the gender of the child, but had great difficult trying to do it. Her head was only pointing in one direction, and that was straight ahead to where Andy was pulling out toys from his chest. Watching him perform this activity, it dawned upon Joanie why she had appeared to have lost all motion function in her body – she…was…A TOY!

_How the heck could this have happened to me? Is this some sort of joke? What were Bunsen and Beaker doing in that basement?_

One-by-one, Joanie could see each of Andy's other toys: a Mr. Potato Head doll, a ceramic piggy bank, a porcelain figurine of Bo Peep, a slinky toy modeled after a dog, a plastic tyrannosaurus rex, and – last but not least – a pull-string cowboy doll. Andy greeted the pull-string cowboy in a way that could only be described as if he was acknowledging a real person. "Rise and shine, Woody! There's a town that needs saving today!"

He set Woody down beside the toy chest and commenced in pulling out a few more toys, before he closed the chest shut and gathered all of the other ones (including Joanie) together. Andy carried them over to a row of moving boxes lying on the floor, drawn up in crayon to look like a miniature western town. One of them had an illustration done by Andy himself of Mr. Potato Head on a "wanted" poster taped to it. Joanie could only guess what kind of scene this was going to be, as he placed her and a few other toys together in front of a "bank" box.

Taking Mr. Potato Head, he held him over in front of the bank with plastic toy guns held in his hands and pointed at Joanie and the other toys. "Alright, everyone! This is a stick-up! Don't anybody move! Now empty that safe!" He was imitating Mr. Potato Head's voice in a devilish way, which Joanie admitted had the makings of a talented actor. Andy picked up the piggy bank with his other free hand and emptied out a pile of coins over the floor in front of Mr. Potato Head. "Ooh! Money! Money! Money!"

Andy brought Bo Peep into the scene and imitated her voice in a high-pitched, feminine tone. "Stop it! Stop it, you mean old potato!"

"Quiet, Bo Peep…or your sheep get run over!" He had Mr. Potato Head threaten her in such a "violent" way, clearly making him the villain of this performance.

The porcelain sheep that accompanied the Bo Peep figurine were placed upon the center of a _Hot Wheels_ track loop. "Heeelp! BAAAA! Heeelp us!"

"Oh, no! Not my sheep! Somebody do something!"

Andy suddenly brought Woody into the picture, positioning him opposite of Mr. Potato Head and pulling the ring in the center of Woody's back. An electronic voice then emerged from within the toy that said, "Reach for the sky!"

"Oh, no! Sheriff Woody!"

"I'm here to stop you, One-Eyed Bart."

Andy pulled out one of Mr. Potato Head's eyes, giving him the appearance of a one-eyed bandit (like his character). "Doh! How'd you know it was me?!"

"Are you gonna come quietly?"

"You can't touch me, Sheriff! I brought my attack dog with a built-in force field!" He placed the "Slinky Dog" in front of Mr. Potato Head and stretched his slinky mid-section out.

"Well, I brought my dinosaur, who eats force field dogs!" Following that line from Woody, he brought out the plastic T-Rex toy and had him stomp over the Slinky Dog, "defeating" him. "You're goin' to jail, Bart!" Picking up Mr. Potato Head, he placed him in the crib of his one-year-old _sister_, working as a "jail" (even with a crayon-written cardboard sign taped to bars showing that it was). And, as if on cue, Andy's sister came in and picked him up, sucking on him and pounding the toy repeatedly against the rail of her crib, which resulted in him loosing some parts.

Caring less how his sister was ruining his toy, Andy put on a cowboy hat of his own and picked up Woody, smiling at his plastic face. "You saved the day again, Woody!"

Once again, he pulled on his string and Woody responded in his electronic voice, "You're my favorite deputy!"

Joanie watched with interest as Andy played with Woody in such a zealous manner that it could only be described as a boy playing with his best friend. It didn't matter whether that friend was an inanimate object or not; Andy treated him as such, and it really touched Joanie's heart (that was, if she still had one). She never owned a toy that she loved as much as Andy loved Woody. The playtime was taken outside of the room, leaving Joanie and the other toys to witness the "destruction" of one Mr. Potato Head at the hands of the baby girl.

While standing in a room that was filled only with the excitable cheers of a baby, Joanie began to wonder just exactly how she got into this mess, becoming a twelve-inch tall toy in a sort-of "cartoonish" type of environment. The only explanation for it could've come from that new invention she and everyone else at the Muppet Theater heard Bunsen and Beaker were working on. Not too many details were revealed from the two Muppet scientists about it other than it could _only_ be invented in the basement area. It would appear at that very second that Joanie was getting a firsthand experience of what the invention was capable of doing. The only question that remained was: how on earth were Bunsen and Beaker going to get her out of this?

After what felt like a long time, Andy and Woody returned to the room, approaching the crib of his baby sister. He tipped Woody's hat to her and said, "Howdy, Little Lady!" From there, he went to his bed, which had western-themed bed sheets donned over it, and placed Woody onto it. Pulling his string one last time, he made Woody say, "Somebody's poisoned the waterhole!"

Walking up to his sister's crib once again, Andy picked her up and walked out of the room. Before leaving, he gave one parting comment to his favorite toy, "See ya later, Woody."

With Andy and his sister's departure from the room, everything fell completely silent. Joanie always wondered what the life of a toy was like, and she was finding out from just standing there – motionless – in the middle of the play set that Andy made. Needless to say, it was quite boring for her. She already desired to escape from this nightmare and return to reality.

That was until she heard Woody talking (outside of his voice box) and saw him actually moving (without the aid of Andy) to the side of the bed. He said to Joanie and all of the toys, "Okay, everybody. Coast is clear."

And with that, the bedroom suddenly came alive, with toys emerging from the toy box, the closet, the shelves, and in other places and engaging in a flurry of activity. Even Joanie suddenly felt herself coming to life again, moving all of her limbs and her face; but she still couldn't _feel_ herself doing all of it. She felt so synthetic, like a _real_ toy; and as freaky as it was to her, it was also enlightening in a way. Of course, regaining her movement again, she wondered if she could possibly get some answers as to where she was and how she could get out.

Before she started walking forward, she was suddenly confronted by the T-Rex toy as he asked her, "Do you think Andy made me scary enough? Be honest, please. Was I scary?"

Joanie wasn't entirely sure of how to respond. So she just smiled and told him, "Yeah…you were like Godzilla to us." She gestured a thumb up and added, "Way to go, Rex."

"Oh! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" He took her plastic hand and shook it so feverishly that Joanie almost felt it come off her body…_literally_. "You don't know how much that means coming from you, Princess!"

As he walked off excitedly, Joanie gazed at him in confusion. _Did he just call me 'princess'?_ She became very intrigued of exactly what kind of toy she became, looking down at herself and seeing how she was wearing some type of white dress that looked very familiar to her. When she started to get an idea, she reached up at her hair and felt the "buns" at the opposite sides of her head. She closed her eyes real tight and thought in despair, _Oh, man! I've become a Princess Leia doll!_

"Is there something wrong, Princess?" She heard someone address her, and she opened her eyes to see Woody next to her, looking a little concerned.

"Uh…n-no…everything's fine."

_You liar! Everything is NOT fine! You're a toy for cryin' out loud!_

Woody seemed a bit relieved. "Well, that's good. The last thing we need is _more_ bad news."

"Bad news?!" A voice with a country accent exclaimed, and Woody realized all too late that it came from Slinky Dog, who was passing right by while he was conversing with Joanie.

All of the toys in the area suddenly fell silent, hearing Slinky's alarmed voice. Woody then whispered to the toy, "Slink, just gather everyone up for staff meeting and be happy."

"Got it," acknowledged Slinky, who began shuffling off, much to Woody's chagrin.

"Be _happy_!" Woody demanded, and Slinky faked happiness as hard as he could, even going as far as laughing hysterically.

Panic began to come over Joanie, and she was heavily anxious to get out from wherever she was, worried about her mother and friends. She must've been pretty worried as she even heard Robin's voice addressing her. "Joanie! Joanie!"

However, it was _not_ her imagination. Robin was _actually_ there, standing somewhere very close. She turned her head and noticed him caught under the lid of the toy box. "Robin?" Excited and surprised to see him all at once, she quickly went to his aid and lifted the lid off his body, allowing him to clear from the box and join everyone in the "outside world." Joanie noticed that he was wearing his "Frog Scout" uniform and had a very action figure-like appearance. "You poor thing. Are you okay?"

"I am now that you'd rescued me," he said, before gazing around at the bizarre scene in front of him. "Joanie, where are we? Is this some sort of dream?"

Joanie shrugged and said, "I don't know. But it's got to be some result of Bunsen's newest invention. One minute, I was trapped in some sort of chamber, and then the next…I'm in some weird remake of _Babes in Toyland_."

Robin looked up and down at her in confusion. "Nice costume. Who're you supposed to be?"

"A character from that space movie you and I were going to see before all of _this_ happened," she answered with a sigh, before noticing the way _he_ was dressed. "What about you? How come you're in your Frog Scout uniform?"

The tiny frog shook his head and remarked, "I'm not sure. The last thing I thought about when I was trapped inside the chamber myself was the day Uncle Kermit and I went on that Frog Scout excursion a year ago. It was the only thing that kept me calm before I ended up here."

Listening to him, Joanie realized the same thing happened with her, only she thought about seeing that sci-fi space flick for the first time recently. She enlightened her friend with a scientific theory, "The invention must've recognized our thoughts and decided on what type of beings we would become in this…place."

Joanie and Robin gazed around at the area in awe and confusion, still wondering where they possibly were. Was it really some sort of dream? Or was it some type of simulation? If it was indeed the latter, then it certainly felt beyond realistic to them. Nothing in science could ever create whatever this place was – unless it came from Bunsen Honeydew and his assistant, Beaker.

"Come on, you two." They heard Slinky address them and looked down to see him gesturing for them to follow him. "We've got a staff meeting to attend."

Robin and Joanie exchanged a puzzled glance and then followed Slinky to where all the other toys were gathered. Woody was standing by some sort of makeshift podium, while a toy tape recorder waddled its way up and allowed him to take its microphone. "Hello? Check? Better? Great! Okay, first item today…Has everyone picked a moving buddy?"

The toys all moaned from his inquiry, whereas the confused little Robin turned to Joanie and asked, "We're moving? To where?"

Joanie wanted to provide an answer for him to calm his nerves; but all she could do was politely shush him, expecting their answer to come in the conversation happening before them. "Moving buddy?!" The ceramic piggy bank (appropriately known as "Hamm") said from atop a drawer. "You can't be serious!"

"Well, I didn't know we were supposed to have one already." Rex said, sounding just as concerned as Robin.

Mr. Potato Head, who put himself back together after his "attack" from Andy's sister, waved his arm out of its socket. "Do we have to hold hands?" This, of course, got quite a humorous reaction from the other toys (with the obvious exception of Joanie, Robin, and Woody).

"Oh, yeah, you guys think this is a _big_ joke," said the disgusted Woody. "We've only got one week left before the move. I don't want any toys left behind."

Robin couldn't take much more of the confusion and spoke out to the pull-string cowboy doll. "Where are we moving to?" All glances suddenly focused directly on Robin, much of them displayed odd reactions.

Woody shook his head in aggravation at his question. "Oh, come on. Please don't do this to me, guys. Ya gotta keep up with me on this stuff. You think it's any easier for me, especially with Andy's birthday moved to today?"

The toys suddenly panicked at this news, moving their stares away from Robin and back on Woody. "What's going on down there? Is Mom losing her marbles?" Hamm questioned.

"Well, obviously she wanted to have the party before the move." Woody indicated.

Robin's confusion seemed to have grown each second of the discussion. "I don't get it. Why's everyone so afraid of a birthday party? Aren't they supposed to be fun?"

The toys glanced oddly at the tiny frog again, and it was even Mr. Potato Head who voiced his irritation over all of his ridiculous questions. "Geez Louise! Where the heck has this kid been for the past century?"

"I'd say he's been cooped up at the bottom of the toy box for too long." Hamm uttered, creating uproar of laughter from the other toys.

Joanie, taking offense to how they were all laughing at the poor confused Robin, stepped forward and addressed them. "Okay, that's enough! Yeah, he's a little behind on what's going on – but it's for good reason."

"You mean he _has_ been cooped up at the bottom of the box all this time?" Rex inquired, inadvertently creating yet another upheaval of laughter amongst everyone.

Woody became aggravated over how the subject seemed to have veered off-course, as well as how his friends were picking on the smaller toy. Immediately, he took command of the situation and told everyone, "Alright! Like Princess said, enough's enough! The little guy is just worried about his future, okay? I mean, yeah, there are some of us who aren't thinking straight on this. But that doesn't mean we're just going to insult each other for it. We just have to relax and know that everything is going to be just fine. How different can this be from every other birthday we've been through?"

"Uh, pardon me. I hate to break up the staff meeting, but…THEY'RE HERE!!" Hamm frantically informed. "Birthday guests at three o'clock!!"

At this update, the toys panicked and stampeded over Woody, heading toward the bedroom window, leaving him alone on the floor with Joanie and Robin. While they were crowded around the window and trying to get a peek outside, Joanie pulled Robin aside and hid under Andy's bed as Woody wasn't looking. She whispered to her little friend, "Look, Robin, we've got to get out of here. I'm certain we've just been transported away from the Muppet Theater, hopefully a few blocks or so. If we leave now, maybe we can get back before sunset and have Bunsen and Beaker switch us back to our normal selves."

"But, Joanie, I don't think…"

She didn't give him much time to say what he wanted to, as she took his hand and pulled him out from under the bed along with herself, exiting out the other side. Woody and the other toys were distracted with whatever was happening outside, giving them the perfect opportunity for escape. They dashed through the open doorway leading out of the bedroom, moving into the upstairs hallway. Before going any further, Joanie looked around to check and see if the coast was clear. She wasn't certain of why she did it, because she couldn't care less if they were spotted by anyone; but it seemed important to her nonetheless.

Once she realized that it was, she led Robin down the staircase (which looked like a series of cliffs to Joanie and Robin) and moved to the downstairs hallway. Seeing the front door straight ahead, Joanie was thrilled to discover that she and Robin were only a hop and a skip away from freedom. But before either of them could move towards it, they both suddenly froze in place, just as Andy's mother passed through, rounding up Andy and all of his birthday guests.

"Okay, c'mon, kids! Everyone in the living room. It's almost time for presents." And as she passed through, she spotted Joanie and Robin at the foot of the stairs and glanced at them in confusion. "What on earth…?" She sighed, picking the two of them up and setting them down atop a shelf in the living room. "I'm gonna have to remind him to pick these things up, or else I'll have to…"

While she walked off and continued murmuring to herself in frustration, Joanie and Robin unfroze, surprised to have discovered what just happened to them. "How did _that_ happen?!" Robin exclaimed.

"You've got me…I was just about ready to bolt through the front door, before my whole body just shut down." Joanie glanced down over the edge and saw how far down it was from the top of the shelf. She groaned at the height, which would've taken several minutes for two small figures like them to get down. "Alright. So attempt number one has been foiled, but I'm sure attempt number two will turn out better. C'mon, Rob…" She stopped and noticed the amazed look on her friend's face. "What? What is it?"

Robin pointed straight ahead to the pile of brightly wrapped gifts sitting atop the living room coffee table. "Look at all those wonderful presents! This Andy kid must be the luckiest one on the planet!"

Joanie shook her head and grinned. "Don't get distracted, little buddy. We've got to boogie, before…" The sound of kids laughing and running into the living room stopped her cold, and both she and Robin remained where they were, as Andy, his mother, and the guests showed up in the room. Again, Joanie groaned – another attempt foiled. "Perfect!"

"Relax, Joanie." Robin said. "At least we get to see what all he got."


	4. Chapter Three: Time Zone: 1977 Before TD

**Chapter Three: Time Zone – 1977 (Before ****Temporal Displacement)**

The explosion practically shook the entire Muppet Theater, alarming not just the performers onstage and the people in the audience, but Diana Navarro as well. She was just putting Scooter to bed when she heard _and_ felt the loud _boom_ that erupted downstairs. Normally when something like that occurred, it was no huge deal – explosions happen in the Muppet Theater once every ten seconds, especially with Crazy Harry around. But that particular one sounded very violent, concerning Diana to the point that she worried if Joanie had been caught in it.

Hurriedly, she made her way downstairs and passed through the heavy smoke that had seeped out from the basement. Just as she was standing in the center of the backstage area, waving her hand in front of her face to clear the smoke from her mouth and nostrils, Kermit frantically walked in. "WHAT THE HECK'S GOING ON HERE?!?!"

Diana coughed and answered, "I don't know. But I bet it's coming from Muppet Labs."

"Of course." Kermit remarked in a nonchalant manner. "Where else?"

The two of them then headed that way, covering their mouths and noses with their hands in protection from the smoke. Walking carefully and cautiously in, they soon discovered the smoke was just as horrid inside the basement as it was outside. They could barely make out anything between the heavy smoke and dim lighting. It was not until a bright light emerged from within the haze that they were suddenly guided safely further into the room.

Two familiar figures emerged from the light – one short and pudgy, the other slightly taller and lanky. Once the short, pudgy one began talking, Kermit and Diana knew instantly who they were. "I do believe that was the best experience we have ever had through an invention, Beaker. To think, in thirty-two years, Disney will have its _first_ African American princess at the same time America will have its first African American president. Quite a revelation."

Beaker meeped in agreement with that statement.

Squinting through the smoke, Diana and Kermit could see that it was Bunsen Honeydew and his assistant, Beaker, walking out of what appeared to have been some sort of heavily lit chamber. The light inside of it soon dimmed after they exited out, without any interference from either of the two Muppet scientists. It was like nothing Diana or Kermit had ever seen before. And neither was the metal arch build over the chamber entranceway that was glittering like a starry sky in a rainbow of colors. The sight of it was beautiful and eerie at the same time.

While the smoke began clearing a little more, Diana and Kermit could make out an array of supercomputers surrounding the arch and the chamber, taking up practically all of the wall space in the basement. At the center of the room was a workbench that had an Apple II series computer sitting on it, connected to each and every supercomputer in the room. Neither of them was certain what it was for – to open the chamber with, monitor whatever they were doing in there, or something else entirely – but it looked fancy enough for whatever experiment they had been conducting. After coming out from the chamber, they went straight to the computer and Bunsen sat down in front of it. He was just about to press a button labeled "EXECUTE" on the keyboard, until the voice of Kermit interrupted him.

"Bunsen, what is going on down here?"

Bunsen and Beaker nearly jumped from their skins at the unexpected sound of the frog's voice. Bunsen quickly spun around in his chair and looked directly to him and Diana, stammering a response. "M-M-Mister K-K-Kermit! W-What a s-s-surprise!"

"Not as big as the surprise you gave the rest of the theater." Kermit remarked. "The whole building just shook like an earthquake just passed through."

"Yeah, and I might not be a seismologist, but I doubt we get very many of those here in Florida." Diana indicated.

Bunsen began to numb on his fingers nervously. "Oh, my. Beakie and I are very sorry. We didn't expect for discharge to be that extreme."

"Discharge?" Kermit repeated the term that stood out from the rest of the sentence.

"What on earth are you guys working on?" Diana asked.

Beaker meeped a cautious question to Bunsen.

"No, no. It's fine. I am sure we can trust them with this information." Bunsen refocused on Diana and Kermit, stepping away from the computer and motioning to the arch and chamber. "This is our newest invention – The Magic Gateway. It tears into the fabric of space and time, opening entrances into other dimensions. However, we have programmed it to access only one…the World of Disney."

Kermit and Diana exchanged a look of disorientation from what the Muppet scientist just unveiled to them. Some of it made sense at the same time none of it did. "Are you telling us that you two built a machine that allows someone to go into a world based on…what? Disney cartoons? Disney movies?" Kermit inquired.

"Both! Oh…er…mostly Disney Animation." Bunsen stated. "Beakie and I just visited one not very long ago. Look what we brought with us." They showed Diana and Kermit the bead necklaces worn around their necks, which looked as if they came right out of New Orleans.

Diana walked up and examined the necklaces, taking them into her hands and feeling how real they were. "Where did you get these?"

"The computer found access to a realm based on a future Disney film called _The Princess and the Frog_." Bunsen excitedly said. "We went there and experienced one of the most wonderful parades we've ever seen. It was for a prince named Naveen, I believe."

Diana shook her head at the unbelievable discovery. "Wow. Sounds like you boys have really hit the jackpot on this invention. Could really make a fortune out of…"

"No! Most certainly not!" Bunsen snapped, surprising Diana and Kermit with his hasty tone. Calming himself down, he stated, "I apologize. But the Magic Gateway is a 'for our eyes only' invention. The both of you are not supposed to be seeing it right now. It's extremely classified."

Kermit chuckled. "Bunsen, with all due respect, nothing is ever a secret within Muppet Labs. Just about every day, you and Beaker…"

"I'm afraid this is _beyond_ Muppet Labs, Kermit." Bunsen informed. "All that you see here now is for a much larger scientific group known as the DHARMA Initiative."

"The DHARMA Initiative?" Diana remarked in surprise. "Sounds pretty heavy for a couple of small fries like yourselves."

Bunsen nodded with her sentiment. "Beaker and I have been members since 1974, when they were recruiting for the most intelligent individuals around the world. They offered us to set up all of the equipment you see here in the basement on an island somewhere east of Fiji, where most of the DHARMA members are now. But we suggested that all tests would be closer to home, in the event that a discovery – like the one just now – was made."

"And they actually trusted something this remarkable to two Muppets?" Kermit asked, finding the notion a little difficult to believe.

"You would be surprised whom DHARMA will accept, Kermit. Even the most brilliant of minds are found in the most unexpected of places."

"Yeah, like the basement of a theater." Kermit scoffed.

Bunsen suddenly felt his assistant hysterically tapping him on the shoulder and letting out a string of meeps that were just the same. When Bunsen turned to see what he wanted, he noticed him pointing to the computer screen, which was still displaying the huge chunk of information that he had yet to "execute" into the supercomputers. At first Bunsen was puzzled over what Beaker wanted him to see; but then he saw it for himself and became just as alarmed.

"Oh, dear me!" Bunsen exclaimed.

"What? What's wrong?" Diana asked, glancing at the computer screen with Kermit at her side and doing the same.

"It seems as if two other subjects from here in the real world have entered through the Gateway, according to the readouts." Bunsen indicated. "Discharge occurred just a few minutes before Beaker and I returned. Whoever went through is now within eighteen years between our realm and the Disney one they're in."

Hearing this, Diana and Kermit suddenly realized that Joanie and Robin were nowhere to be seen at the moment. That could only give them the conclusion that the "two subjects" Bunsen was referring to had to have been them. Realizing this, they turned to each other and saw the shocked looks on their faces. Diana urgently told Bunsen, "You have to get them out of there."

"I most certainly intend on doing so, Miss Diana," declared Bunsen, "as soon as Beaker and I have the computer pinpoint the realm that they are in." While the Muppet scientist was typing on the computer, Beaker went to one of the supercomputers and began turning knobs and flipping switches. "The system should let us know of the two possible realms in existent in 1995, limiting it down to the one that our 'subjects' are in."

Kermit began to take offense to how Bunsen was referring to Joanie and Robin. "They're not just subjects! That's my nephew and her daughter you have trapped in your 'World of Disney'!"

Bunsen glanced at Kermit with horror registered on his face. "Oh…well, um…that certainly makes a difference."

That statement peaked Diana's interest. "How so?"

"Beaker can have the computer search for descriptions that match Robin's and Miss Joanie's. From there, we can eliminate several minutes of search time and find them instantaneously."

Beaker meeped in approval of the idea and hurried over to another supercomputer, entering the data that Bunsen referred to into it. After doing so, right before Bunsen's eyes (if he had any there on his face), some text immediately popped up on the computer screen, giving him the information he required. Diana saw it herself, noticing how encrypted it appeared to her eyes and Kermit's, and asked, "Does that mean you've found them?"

Bunsen nodded with a smile. "Most certainly." He typed some information through the keyboard. "All I have to do now is enter a request for retrieval and…" Once he pressed the "execute" button, a series of odd events suddenly occurred.

First, the lights in the room got very dim. Second, the room itself began vibrating heavily – as if another tremor was starting. Third, the arch over the chamber went from a sparkling rainbow of colors to an intense white glow that forced everyone to shield their eyes from it. At the same time, the inside of the chamber itself let off a white glow while the sound of electrical energy sparkling could be detected. Lastly, there came a loud _boom_ and the basement and much of everything else shook violently, much like it had before.

After the chaos had passed, the chamber door opened, unleashing a wave of clear smoke that seeped towards Diana, Kermit, Bunsen, and Beaker. As they performed a waving motion to clear it from their faces, they looked through it to see two brand new figures slowly stumble out from the chamber, coughing out the hints of smoke they had breathed in. Once it all cleared out of the room, the group could finally see that it was Joanie and Robin themselves who exited the chamber. The moment they saw them, Diana and Kermit ran their way and gave them each an enormous hug.

"Oh, thank goodness you're alright!" Diana told her daughter.

"I couldn't imagine what would've happened if we lost you!" Kermit said to his nephew.

Joanie and Robin were just as relieved as they were to be back. But the tight hugs their loved ones were giving them that moment had started to cut off their breathing, which was bad enough with the smoke still in their lungs. "Mom, could you…please…not…squish me?!"

Obeying her daughter's request, Diana let her go, just as Kermit had done so with Robin. "You wouldn't believe what we just saw!" The tiny frog exclaimed. "We were toys…action figures…a child's playthings!"

"And you are a sad, strange little man, Bunsen Honeydew!" Joanie angrily belittled. "Whatever this is you built is a serious menace to society! Poor little Robin and I got the scare of our lives where we were just now!"

Robin seemed to have thought differently. "Well, uh…actually, Joanie…"

But the young woman seemed too furious to listen to her little friend. "Why would you create something so…so…bizarre? No, no. Don't answer that. There is _always_ a reason for a Muppet doing something _bizarre_. But this…this…_thing_ you made…"

"Uh, Joanie?" Robin suddenly beckoned.

"…I just can't begin to describe what a huge nightmare…"

"Joanie?"

"…it was to be a small…"

"Joanie?"

"…lifeless…"

"Joanie?!"

"…unfeeling…"

"Joanie?!?!"

"…TOY!"

"JOANIE!!"

She spun around to see what it was that Robin was trying to direct her attention to, and she spotted him pointing directly to the chamber. In fact, everyone's attention – except for hers – was directed to the chamber, which was still open and heavily lit inside. As soon as she focused on it herself, her clear blue eyes widened in shock to see what she believed had to have been the strangest thing ever. There, standing in the chamber, was a blue-eyed, 43-year-old man in a high-tech space suit with a control panel on the chest (complete with a large red button), a retractable helmet over his head, and other gadgets through his white, green, and purple outfit. At the moment everyone saw him, he was standing heroically at the center of the chamber.

Just above the large red button on his chest panel was a label that had the name "Lightyear" printed on it. Realizing exactly what she was seeing, Joanie's mouth gaped open in surprise and said, "You have got to be kidding me!"


	5. Chapter Four: Time Zone – 2010 Before TD

**Chapter Four: Time Zone – 2010**** (Before Temporal Displacement)**

A dark blue 2009 Ford Explorer zoomed down S. Apopka Vineland Rd. at breakneck speed, heading in the direction of Prestigious Villas, a neighborhood of beautiful vacation homes in the Orlando, Florida area. Sean Thomas, the driver of the Explorer, could've cared less if he was pulled over by any patrol officers keeping track of his speed, which was reading as "88mph" on the speedometer. On the other hand, the Explorer's passengers – Sean's sisters (Kimberly, Ciciley, and Meagan) and their friends from their job at KMUP (Pepe the King Prawn, Rizzo the Rat, Bobo the Bear, Clifford, and Bean Bunny) – were very worried about the incredible speed they were going in. They knew it was an emergency, but he seemed to have been taking it a bit too far.

Meagan, who was sitting in the front seat, begged to her brother, "Sean! Dude! Wanna slow it down before _we_ end up dead?!"

"Don't say that! You don't know for a fact she's dead!"

The speed of the vehicle seemed to have increased along with his frustration, alarming everyone even further.

"Meagan, do us all a favor and _shut up_!" Kimberly snapped, before she calmly put a hand on Sean's shoulder and said, "Hey, my brother. Just stay cool, alright? I'm sure Mama's okay."

"Yeah, man." Clifford affirmed with Kimberly's statement. "She wouldn't have called if she _weren't_ okay."

Sean chuckled sarcastically (if not a little nervously). "Do you guys know how rare it is when women suffer a heart attack and live?"

"Do you?" Ciciley inquired.

"No! That's why I'm asking, so one of you can calm me down!" Sean retorted. "You think that I _want_ to be this panicked on my _vacation_?!"

Before anyone in the Explorer could answer the rhetorical question, Sean made a hard left into Bristol Park Drive, turning right into the location of Prestigious Villas. They came upon Wittenwood Cove and found their mother's villa in the community of Windsor Hills Reserve. It was a gorgeous home painted in a vanilla color with a bright red, tiled rooftop and a lusciously green lawn and garden. The sight of it should have given a soothing feel for anyone who stopped before it; but for Sean Thomas, his sisters, and their friends, they were anything but somber. As soon as the Explorer pulled into the driveway, everyone immediately clambered out of the vehicle and up to the front door.

Knowing the front door would be locked, Sean did not hesitate in kicking it in to allow him and the others to rush right in. However, once they made their way into the lounge room, they were met with a disquieting sight: **their mother, Joan Navarro Thomas, sitting down comfortably on the couch and watching **_**Beauty and the Beast**_. She was not lying lifelessly on the floor as they all imagined her to be, after being told by the services at the _Bay Lake Tower Hotel_ that she suffered a "severe heart attack." No woman in such a condition would be sitting in her home with a collection of delicious snacks (from M&M's to Doritos chips) before her and watching a Disney flick. It was confusing enough to cause the elderly redhead's son and daughters, as well as their friends, to stare in total disbelief.

As soon as she noticed their presence in her home, she turned to them and smiled. "So wonderful to see you all made it here so quickly. It truly shows just how much you care for your old mother." She reached forward and grabbed the glass bowl of M&M's from the coffee table, offering it to her visitors. "Care to join me? The movie's just started."

* * *

Only splashing cool water onto his face in the upstairs guest bathroom could keep Sean from exploding in extreme anger right in front of his mother. It was not the first time she pulled such a stunt while he, his sisters, and their friends were vacationing in Florida; every time they did, she would find some "emergency" (or lame excuse) to bring them out of their good time. The first time it was cute, the second time was a little more serious, the third was even amusing in some ways, the fourth was annoying, and the fifth (and most recent) time nearly got her arrested. But that time – when a vacation was desperately needed during their busiest time at KMUP – reached a boiling point that had to be restrained, much like all the other times.

"Mind if I have some of that?"

Looking up from the sink that he held his head over, he saw his equally frustrated oldest sister, Kimberly, standing there. He obliged to her request by cupping his hands beneath the stream of cold water flowing from the faucet and hurling it directly into her face. She shut her eyes tight while the water came in contact with her face, generating a small but effective splash, and nodded in approval to her brother. They both snatched some towels from off a nearby shelf to dry their faces with.

Slightly calmed, Sean asked his sister, "Why does she do this every time? I mean she can't be _that_ lonely here, can she?"

Kimberly shook her head. "I don't know. Daddy's passing was only a couple of years ago. It takes a little longer for some people to grieve."

"I understand that, but…we're on vacation! Tracy's probably wondering why we haven't made it to M.K. yet."

"Ah, Tracy will be fine. You know how she always loves being ahead of everyone else when it comes to fun at Disney World." Kim let out a deep sigh of disappointment. "But how nice it would've been to be the first in line to Space Mountain." Sean put his arm around his big sister in comfort, which brought out a small smile from her face.

While the two siblings grieved over the loss of their fun time, Pepe, Clifford, and Rizzo suddenly appeared in the doorway of the bathroom with their hands over their eyes. Rizzo even inquired, "Is da close clear?"

"Sí, we are not interested in seeing the 'Full Monty', okay." Pepe added.

Kimberly shook her head at the three. "We only came in here to cool off, you sickos." She hurled her towel at the head of Pepe, who was caught by surprise when it hit his head.

Rizzo uncovered his eyes and sighed. "It's hard ta keepin' things G-rated in real life when yer a Muppet, ya know."

"Well, another second with our mother and it probably wouldn't have been so G-rated." Sean grumbled. "What's she doing now anyway?"

"Downstairs, watching the movie with Cici, Megs, Bobo, and Bean." Clifford informed.

Sean began walking out from the bathroom, shutting off the light and passing the Muppets on his way out. "Well, c'mon. We're not staying here another minute. We've got a vacation to get back to."

Kimberly and the three Muppets followed him back downstairs to the lounge room where Joan and the others were sitting, eating snacks, and watching _Beauty and the Beast_. They were currently on the scene in which Belle found out her father had been taken captive by "The Beast" and went to the castle to find him. However, Joan spent more time strolling down memory lane with her two youngest daughters than watching the film. She even told Meagan upon Sean and Kim's arrival in the room, "You were just three months old when we first saw this. You cried so many times during the 'Gaston' song that I had to take you out and wait until you calmed down. We didn't come back 'til _after_ the ballroom scene."

Ciciley and Meagan looked as if they were trying their best not to fall asleep between the movie and their mother's reminiscing – the M&M's were their best way of keeping them awake. Bobo was already asleep from eating so much of the snacks on the coffee table. The only one who seemed intrigued by the stories Joan was telling was Bean, who found all of them cute and entertaining. On the one she just finished telling, he chuckled and said, "Really wish I could've been there to see that. I bet Meagan was the cutest baby ever."

"Yeah, let's all do me a favor and never speak of it again, cool?" Meagan said before stuffing a handful of M&M's into her mouth.

"Try not to eat so many of those, sweetie," Joan told her daughter. "You remember what the dentist said about your cavities."

Meagan bit her tongue and put on her best (and fakest) smile when saying to her mother in a stiff tone, "Thanks for reminding me, Mama."

Approaching the group, Sean did not hold back in telling his mother directly, "We're leaving now, Mama. And we're not coming back…_ever_ again." He knew it sounded a little strict; but what she had done to them that day was unforgivable. The sixth time it had happened and it was getting on everyone's nerves.

But Joan did not seem to hear a word her son just told her, as she giddily requested of him, "Sean, sit down. There's something I want to show you and everybody else." She got up from the couch and went to her collection of VHS tapes on the shelf next to her flat-screen television set, scanning through each and every one of them.

Sean rolled his eyes in disgust, turning to Kim and wondering what to do. She just shrugged and silently suggested they do as their mother requested, gesturing to the available sitting areas in the room. Kim, Clifford, Pepe, and Rizzo sat on the couch with Ciciley, Meagan, and Bean, while Sean took position on a reclining chair across from the one that Bobo was sitting (and sleeping) in. As he sat down, Sean glanced to his mother and saw her take out an incredibly old videotape in an equally ancient plastic case. Everyone took heavy notice in the fact that all she had in her entertainment collection _was_ VHS tapes.

"Mama, don't you ever keep up with the times?" Ciciley asked. "Don't you have any Blu-rays or DVDs?"

"Yeah, you're missing all of the new stuff that's out." Meagan added.

A grin emerged from Joan's aged face. "I feel like I've already seen them all." She went to her classic VHS player, ejected the _Beauty and the Beast_ video, and inserted the "new" video into the old-fashioned machine.

The video instantly began playing itself onto the flat-screened television set. Translucent lines ran all across the screen, showing the videotape's true age and looking very odd on a television set that promised an "HD quality" picture. After a few seconds of blackness, the words "The Dharma Initiative – Unknown Orientation" filled the screen. It then faded into the image of a bizarre, octagonal-shaped insignia with the "D" from Walt Disney's signature last name at the center of it.

Confusion registered on the faces of everyone in the room with the notable exception of Joan herself. For as long as they had known her, everyone knew that Joan was the biggest Disney fanatic in the Thomas family. Practically every day, she lived, ate, and breathe anything related to Disney more than her late-husband or children did. And now, for the first time ever, she was revealing something to her family and friends that was totally _non _-Disney.

"What the heck is this?" Kimberly asked her; but all she received was a quick "shush" from her mother.

A middle-aged Asian man wearing a turtleneck sweater and jacket then appeared on the screen, addressing the camera directly. "Hello. I am Doctor Pierre Chang. What you are watching at this moment is a 'For Your Eyes Only' orientation video for a secret project of the DHARMA Initiative. Station Zero, or 'Project Dee,' is the examination station where tests will be conducted for the discovery of trans-dimensional expedition."

The image then changed to two familiar figures, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker, standing by an old Apple computer in a room filled with supercomputers and a strange door. "We have hired two of our best scientists in handling the extensive research that could possibly take months to uncover. Here, in the location that cannot be specified in this video, they will analyze any data that comes through the computers housed in this room, directly from the machine that has been codenamed 'The Magic Gateway'. Heavy caution has been taken in examining the form of matter contained _beneath_ this location that can only be described as an extreme equivalent to a black hole. Any miscalculation can lead to an 'event horizon' effect that could very well result in…." The video skipped in the end of Chang's sentence, leaving the last half inaudible.

Dr. Chang returned back to the screen with a look of seriousness that never seemed to have left his face. "This is the one project of the DHARMA Initiative that matters most in the discovery of new, innovative ways to prepare members for the…" Again the video skipped and left an absence in middle of his sentence. "…an event that will undoubtedly be the greatest experience of our future history. On behalf of the DeGroots, Alvar Hanso, and all of us at the DHARMA Initiative, thank you, Namaste, and…good luck." The video concluded with corporate text for a business known as "The Hanso Foundation" and the copyrighted year of 1977 before fading to black.

The room grew very quiet after the viewing of the video. Joan saw how her children and their friends were trapped in a perplexed state of mind for at least a few minutes before Sean finally asked her, "What was the purpose of that?"

Joan seemed very hesitant for a moment, coiling a lock of her red hair with one finger and biting her lower lip. She eventually came out and asked, "I've never told you all what happened to my mother – your grandmother – haven't I?"

Kim thought back to her childhood when the subject of her grandmother, Diana Navarro, came up rarely in conversation. "You've always told us that she died when you were just 22 years old…natural causes, I think you said."

Joan nodded. "I lied." This inspired more confusion amongst the group. "I haven't known whether she's been alive or dead in the past 33 years of my life."

"How could you _not_ be sure if our grandmother is alive or dead?" Sean inquired.

"Because she's been missing since 1977." Joan answered, just as she ejected the videotape from the player, placed it back into its case, and tried to hand it over to Sean. "Believe it or not, I have strong feelings that _this_ is the key to finding her. The first time I watched it, the part about the 'event horizon' totally went over my head – I'm not a quantum physicist in any sense of the word. Had I known at the time what he meant, I would have asked Bunsen and Beaker to send me back in…try to find my mother and bring her back home. It was too late then…but it's not now."

Sean gazed at her with a wide-eyed look registered on his face and then towards the video she was offering to him. Looking back at her, he said as calmly as he could, "Mama…I mean this with all the love in my heart…but you _seriously_ need professional help." He then got up from the reclining chair and headed for the door gesturing for his siblings and friends to follow. They did not hesitate in doing so, sharing his exact thoughts on what Joan was telling them. Bobo, who had been asleep during the unusual moment, was awakened from his slumber as soon as Clifford nudged him on the shoulder.

Joan remained where she was, appearing very defeated after hearing what her son said to her. She watched them all exit her home, passing through the busted door, and head back to the Explorer. But Joan was not willing to give up so easily. Just as Sean was about to walk out, she ran to him and blocked his path, shoving the videotape right up against his chest.

"Alright, fine. I _might_ be in need of help. Maybe I'm just a crazy old woman who feels lonely all the time and wants to spend time with her own flesh and blood." Tears began to form in her eyes, and her voice clearly began to break upon her last words. "But, please…just…just stop by the old theater and find Bunsen's machine, will ya? I just want to know where _my_ mother is."

Sean could see the genuine distraught in her eyes; this was not another ploy to keep them anchored there. Whatever was going on was much bigger than trying to anchor him and his sisters into another summer at her vacation home. Glancing at the video she was shoving against his chest, he wondered what true usage that it would have given to him if he had taken it. He didn't wish to displease her any more than she already was, so he took the video and left her without giving any consent on her request.

Alone again, Joan woefully went back into the lounge room, wiping away the tears that began to pour from her eyes. Approaching her VHS collection, she removed one copy of a Disney animated film that caught her eye almost instantly: _Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs_. With the shake of a head and deep, depressed sigh, she took the video out of its case and popped it into the player. As soon as the cartoon began playing on her television screen, she whispered to herself, "Where are you, Mom?"


	6. Chapter Five: Time Zone – 1977 Before TD

**Chapter Five: Time Zone – 1977 (Before Temporal Displacement)**

"Buzz Lightyear to Star Command. Come in, Star Command." He pressed a button on his chest as he made the call; however, there was nothing but static as a response. Again, he pressed it and said, "Star Command – come in. Do you read me?" And again, there was no response. "Why don't they answer?!"

The space ranger paced back and forth in the basement, not even glancing at the group of people who were staring at him in wide-eyed disbelief. Bunsen and Beaker were completely beside themselves. Never before had they been so successful in bringing a subject from one of the Disney Worlds into their own reality. It was an achievement that they were both proud and cautious over, fearing the possibility of a rift in the space-time continuum with the subject's absence from his respective dimension.

Joanie, Robin, Kermit, and Diana could hardly express what they were seeing into words. Finally, Joanie turned to the two Muppet scientists and said, "So…this is bad…right?"

Bunsen stammered for a reply. "Y-Ye…N-N…M-Mayb…Uhhh…"

"I'll take that as an 'I'll get right back to you on that'." Joanie remarked.

Suddenly, the space ranger approached the group and gave an odd salute, gesturing his fingers in a very "Spock-like" way. "Greetings! I am Buzz Lightyear. I come in peace."

They all barely knew how to react to his greeting. Kermit braved himself to step forward and say, "Uh…hi-ho, Mister Lightyear. Er, I'm sure this all seems very peculiar to you."

"Not at all, my small green friend. My mission objective is to travel beyond multiple worlds. As a member of the elite Universe Protection Unit of the Space Ranger Corps, I protect the galaxy from the threat of invasion from the Evil Emperor Zurg, sworn enemy of the Galactic Alliance."

Joanie blinked twice before saying, "Oh, you've just got to see _Star Wars_, dude! What you just said sounds so close to the plot of that…"

"Star Wars?!" Buzz exclaimed as his hand went to a button on his arm. "Is there a battle commencing on this planet of yours?!"

Diana waved her hands negatively at the space ranger. "No, no, no. She's talking about a movie. You know…a motion picture?"

Buzz slightly rubbed his chin, pondering over the concept that was brought to his attention. "Motion picture?"

It was clear to Diana, Kermit, Bunsen, and Beaker that wherever this character had come from was obviously nowhere close to Earth. The only ones who knew were Joanie and Robin, whom Diana immediately turned to and asked, "Where did you find this guy?"

"Believe it or not, Mrs. Navarro…he's a toy!" Robin informed.

"Say what?!" Kermit responded, completely befuddled.

"We saw a kid at a birthday party – which was really groovy, by the way – open him up and play with him a little." Joanie revealed. "That's when Bunsen pulled us out of wherever we were and we ended up back here with him in tow."

Diana, Kermit, Bunsen, and Beaker all glanced back to Buzz, seeing how extraordinarily human he looked to be, complete with a five o'clock shadow, bushy eyebrows, and glistening blue eyes. The only thing that stood out from his "humanity" was the high-tech space suit he was wearing. While staring at him, they noticed how he flipped open a compartment on his arm – some type of wrist communicator. He then began recording his voice for an audio journal of some kind.

"Buzz Lightyear Mission Log. Stardate 4072: I appear to have been transported to some unknown world full of humanoid women and strange foamed creatures that resemble puppets. My ship is nowhere in sight, possibly somewhere far off-course from my current location." He tapped a gauge on his communicator that had a needle pointed left to where the word "stable" appeared. "The readout indicates that the air here is breathable. I might as well take my chances."

Buzz activated a button on his chest that made his helmet open, allowing him to breathe in the air within the basement. He coughed a bit after doing so, which Joanie took notice of and told him, "Yeah, the air's a little dense in here with all of the crowded space, but I promise you that it's breathable."

"Fair enough." Buzz hoarsely stated. "Would it be any bother to you otherworldly beings if I investigated this planetary atmosphere of yours?"

Kermit glanced to Bunsen, seeking some approval of this request from the space ranger. When Bunsen nodded, Kermit happily told Buzz, "Uh, sure. Go right ahead."

As Buzz began heading out of the basement, Bunsen quickly added, "Just be sure not to leave the building, Mister Lightyear. We…uh…are not certain if the…uh…"

"If the air is breathable outside our station." Joanie blurted out, which got her a few odd glances from her mother and friends. She shrugged her shoulders and mouthed the words, "I don't know."

Buzz appeared to have bought into what the young woman told him, gesturing his odd salute again and declaring, "On my honor as a member of the elite Universe Protection Unit of the Space Ranger Corps, you have my word." With that said, he went out of the basement, leaving behind a very overwhelmed group of people.

"Now _that_ is impressive!" Diana exclaimed.

"Mom, are you serious?" Joanie retorted. "This is the weirdest thing that Bunsen and Beaker have done yet! We've got a character from some Disney movie that hasn't even been released yet walking around our theater and doing God knows what!"

Diana waved off her paranoia with a chuckle. "He's harmless, sweetie. I doubt if he even cares where he is more less who or what _we_ are to him."

"I'm just saying that this could get out of hand _real_ quick." Joanie presumed. "Maybe we should send this guy back to wherever he came from and dismantle this machine right away."

"Dismantle it?!" Bunsen exclaimed, followed by a quick meep of shock from Beaker.

"I have to agree with Joanie, Diana." Kermit acknowledged. "Something about this thing just feels wrong to me, too. It's like we're tampering with a force that's beyond our control."

Bunsen immediately stepped forward and said in his defense, "B-But, Kermit…this is our chance to discover what lies ahead in our future. The Magic Gateway doesn't only open portals into other dimensions. It also opens portals into other time periods as well. It's sort of a secondary function to the machine, much similar to a time machine."

"Wow." Robin reacted with sincere excitement. "We could get to see what our lives could be like in thirty years and what Disney feature comes out all at the same time."

"This could be the one thing that can change the world!" Diana said with much zeal. "I want to see one of these Disney Worlds. It doesn't have to be one from the future. I'd rather…Hey, that's it! Yeah! Take me to one of my old favorites! I want to see _Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs_ closer than I could ever hope to before!"

Joanie could hardly believe what her mother was requesting. And before she could talk her out of it, Bunsen was already fiddling with the computer, typing in some information and pressing "Execute" shortly afterward. The door to the Magic Gateway's chamber then opened, letting out a flood of white light that everyone briefly shielded their eyes from. Without a hint of hesitation, Diana began walking towards the opened chamber, alarming Joanie to the point that she ran up and held her back from it.

"Mom, no! You don't have any idea what might happen while you're there!"

Diana snickered at her words. "Of course, I do. I've seen _Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs_ more times than you ever have. I know what I can or cannot expect while I'm there."

Joanie knew there was no talking her out of this. So she boldly said to her, "Then I'm going with you."

She got no argument from her mother on that act of volunteering. Both women entered the heavily lit chamber and were sealed tight inside. The arch above the chamber glowed and, just as before, a brief tremor erupted through the foundation of the building. Within seconds, the loud _boom_ came over the basement and everything shook violently while the two women inside the chamber vanished without a trace.


	7. Chapter Six: Realm Zone – 1937 Before TD

**Chapter Six: Realm Zone**** – 1937 (Before Temporal Displacement)**

Once upon a time, there lived a lovely little princess named Snow White. Her vain and wicked stepmother, Queen Grimhilde, feared that some day Snow White's beauty would surpass her own. So she dressed the little princess in rags and forced her to work as a scullery maid. Each day, the vain Queen consulted her "Magic Mirror" and asked, "Magic Mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?" And as long as the Mirror answered, "You're the fairest one of all," Snow White was safe from the Queen's cruel jealousy.

One fateful day, Queen Grimhilde went to her private chamber in her castle and consulted with the Magic Mirror, which hung within a space on a section of the wall that was reserved only for it. Hanging long and wide, much of the Queen's image reflected in the mirror, granting her desire to always see how beautiful she was. Lifting her arms into the air while facing the mirror, the Queen boldly summoned, "Slave in the magic mirror, come from the farthest space. Through wind and darkness, I summon thee!"

A strong wind blew all throughout the chamber, slightly ruffling Queen Grimhilde's dark purple robes. It was soon followed with a thunderclap from within the Magic Mirror. Her reflection vanished, replaced by a wall of fire that completely obscured it. In seconds, the fire settled and a dark facemask emerged, suspended in total blackness and shrouded in dark gray clouds of smoke. It was the face of the Magic Mirror, and its empty mouth and eyes began to move as it addressed the Queen.

"What wouldst thou know, My Queen?"

Queen Grimhilde did not hesitate on asking as she had done so daily, "Magic Mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?"

And the Magic Mirror's response – on this fateful day – was not as it had always been. "Famed is thy beauty, Majesty. But hold, another I see. A maiden who is even fairer than Snow White…Alas, she is even fairer than thee."

Needless to say, the Queen was not pleased to hear this. "Alas for her! Reveal her name."

"This maiden comes from a land unknown. Her name I cannot disclose. She now comes to this land of ours and not alone."

Queen Grimhilde's eyes shifted left and right suspiciously. "This…maiden…one who is fairer than even Snow White…she must be found…so I can _end_ her!"

* * *

"This is incredible…_really_ incredible!"

"No, this is weird…_really_ weird!"

Mother and daughter trekked through the forest for an hour since their arrival in the Disney World. Diana seemed to have known exactly where she was headed, while Joanie was simply following her lead. Her complaints seemed to have fallen on deaf ears, as her mother was so focused on all the amazing things that were going on around her. Since they had arrived, she could not stop staring at her hands, seeing how _animated_ they looked in front of her. She could still feel as regularly as she did in the real world, only she _appeared_ more colorful than before.

For Joanie, it was the opposite reaction; she already had enough excitement in the _other_ Disney World. As happy as she was to see how much of a good time her mother was having, all she really wanted was for them to leave whenever possible – which seemed to be a long ways from that very moment. During the entire journey, she thanked her lucky stars that she was still human in this particular dimension and not a child's plaything or any other inanimate object. She didn't know much about _Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs_ – she had only seen the movie once when her mother took her to see it at the local matinee when she was only five years old. All she knew was that it had been her mother's favorite Disney movie since _she_ was a little girl.

"I wonder if we should've told Bunsen how long we wanted to be here." Joanie thought aloud, regardless of whether her mother was listening or not. "Hate for our 'fun' to come to an abrupt end as soon as he presses that little button to haul our butts back to reality."

Diana just waved off her cautious attitude with a grin. "Don't worry about it. They'll know when the right time comes to take us back. In the meantime, I want to find…" She stopped in her tracks, forcing Joanie to do the same, and pointed straight ahead – her face beaming with giddiness. "There it is!!"

Joanie followed her gaze to see a tall castle standing a mild distance ahead of them. "That's where Snow White lives?"

"Both her _and_ her evil stepmother."

"Why do all of these Disney flicks always have a princess and an evil stepmother? That's like a stereotype, isn't it? Did Walt grow up with parental issues or something?" Joanie's comment got her a sarcastic glance from her mother. "I'm just sayin'."

Ignoring her comments, Diana focused on the castle and excitedly said, "C'mon! Let's go see Snow White!"

Seeing the way she was running the rest of the way through the forest, Joanie couldn't help but to shake her head and think to herself, _She's becoming a lot worse than Animal_.

The two women trekked further through the forest, moving much faster than before. They leaped over fallen logs, stepped on a few twigs, and darted in and out between the enormous trees until they were finally within reach of the castle. Near the front entrance, there was a gorgeous well – the same one from which, as Diana remembered, Snow White sung her "wishing song." Much to the surprise of Diana, Snow White was nowhere to be seen. Only her dove friends were there, sitting around the well and pecking at the ground.

"I don't get it." Diana voiced her confusion. "Are we early? She should've been here by now."

"What're you talking about?" Joanie asked her clearly disappointed mother.

"Snow White! At this part of the movie, she stands by the 'wishing well' and wishes for the one she loves to find her. And then Prince Charming comes and sings to her, while she bashfully retreats back inside the castle."

The heavily descriptive way she depicted the scene amused Joanie. But this empty space that both she and her mother were standing in did not impress her one bit. In fact, she even felt a little bored, which might as well have been a good thing, considering how much she hoped nothing _too_ exciting would happen as they were there. She went to the well that Snow White was apparently to have been singing near at that moment and glanced down into it, seeing her own reflection ripple through the water.

"Wishing well, eh?" Joanie said with a snicker. "Trust me, Mom…I've stopped by plenty of 'wishing wells' and they're only good for one thing – stealing a couple of quarters for a phone booth." As she continued gazing down into the well, something gave her the urge to make a wish. Feeling slightly silly as she had done so, she reached into her right pocket of her jeans and pulled out a shiny 1975 quarter. "Still…it wouldn't hurt to see if one can come true." She then tossed the quarter into the well, creating a splash that resonated throughout the well's structure and made a harmonious echo.

The sound made Joanie smile a little, being so beautiful and soothing to her soul. It was one that she had never heard before and could only exist in a world based on a classic Disney movie. Without even realizing it, she suddenly began singing soprano into the well, not so much as in lyrics but rather from a random melody that came from her mind and soul. Her voice carried itself magnificently through the well, echoing to the point that she was practically in unison with her own vocals. The doves perched around the well stopped and listened to her singing, even joining in by chirping their own notes to follow with Joanie's.

Joanie went with this for five minutes straight, before she finally stopped and laughed from the incredible fun she was having from such a silly activity. It was the first time she felt completely relaxed since she and her mother arrived in the Disney World. "Hey, Mom, you've really got to try…"

Her smile quickly faded once she turned and noticed that her mother had vanished. All of that relaxation she gained from singing into the well dispersed. She instantly went into panic mode, running away from the well and forcing all of the doves to fly off by unintentionally frightening them. Heading back into the forest, she called out for her mother several times, getting no response with each attempt. However, one response did come; only it wasn't the one she wanted to hear.

_AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!_

It was the shriek of a woman, coming directly from within the forest. Her heart racing from her increasing panic, Joanie ran to where she heard the scream, which continued on and on. It definitely belonged to her mother, hearing her unmistakable voice demandingly say, "Let me go! Why are you doing this?! I haven't done a thing!!!"

Joanie could hear herself getting closer and closer to it, bracing herself to do whatever was necessary in saving her mother's life. Someone was attacking her, and judging from the way she _ordered_ the attacker to leave her alone, she doubted if it was an out-of-control beast of the woods. It was someone human…someone from this world. But who would want to attack either of them? They did not even belong there in that Disney World.

Just as Joanie neared her mother's location, she heard a familiar buzzing sound that overwhelmed her so much that she was forced to stop in her tracks and cover her ears. Then, out of nowhere, a bright golden light shined over her, growing in intensity with each second. This was all while she felt a weird tingling sensation through her body. If this all appeared very familiar to her, it was only because it was the same reaction she got from within the Magic Gateway chamber before entering a Disney World. And it seemed that she got the same reaction once she was being summoned back into her home world.

As she began to vanish from the Disney World, molecule-by-molecule, she hoped deeply that her mother was returning with her.

**Time Zone – 1977 (Before Temporal Displacement)**

Joanie molecularly reemerged back within the confines of the Magic Gateway chamber with its door sliding open before her, allowing her to escape from the claustrophobia-inducing space. She stumbled out, her legs still reacting to her urgency to go to her mother's rescue before it was too late. But she stopped herself quickly before bumping into Bunsen's desk, where he sat behind the very computer he used to bring her back.

"Welcome back, Miss Joanie." Bunsen delightfully said. "Is your mother _still_ having fun in the 'Snow White' realm?"

That one word in his question brought chills down her spine. Her worse fear had been confirmed – only _she_ returned. Her mother was still in the Disney World, fighting for her life from who-knew-what. Gazing back to the closing chamber, her heart nearly skipped a beat. The happiness she felt a moment ago was gone completely.


	8. Chapter Seven: 1977 & 2010 Before TD

**Chapter Seven: Time Zone – 2010 (Before Temporal Displacement)**

_Yeah, we gotta start_

_Looking at the hands of the time we've been given_

_If this is all we've got and we gotta start thinking_

_If every second counts on a clock that's ticking_

_Gotta live like we're dying_

_We only got 86,400 seconds in a day to_

_Turn it all around or throw it all away_

_We gotta tell them that we love them_

_While we got the chance to say_

_Gotta live like we're dying_

The Kris Allen song blew through the speakers of the Ford Explorer while Sean drove himself, his sisters, and their friends back to the _Walt Disney World Resort_. His mind was completely lost on all that had happened back in his mother's house. The last thing she told him stuck out to him more than everything else she said. What if their grandmother really was still alive somewhere? It sounded so insane that out of all places, she would still be alive in some parallel universe!

He kept the videotape his mother had given to him in the glove compartment, hoping to possibly never see it again. However, within each mile they traveled, something kept nagging him in the back of his mind to check the old theater and find this machine of Bunsen Honeydew's. This "inner voice" did this just as he was driving through the main entrance into _Walt Disney World_ with the friendly animated faces of Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse smiling from the large signs that stood at opposite sides of the road. Sean almost could've sworn that the two mice were _not_ smiling as he drove by and instead frowning upon him in disappointment. It was an unusual feeling and he wasn't too sure where it came from.

Within an hour, they arrived at the front entrance of the _Bay Lake Tower Hotel_, where Sean parked the Ford Explorer and allowed everyone to pile out. As they had done so, he told them, "Hey, listen. I'll meet with you all at M.K. later this afternoon. There are some things I've got to take care Downtown first."

This news wasn't met with much somberness from his sisters and friends. "What?!" They all shouted at the same time.

"_Please_ tell me you mean 'Downtown' as in _Downtown Disney_!" Meagan exclaimed.

"Is this because of what Mama said to us earlier?" Kimberly asked him.

Sean didn't want to admit it, but it did…in more than one way. Though he couldn't let them all know how much it did or else they would talk him out of doing it. "No, it's not that. I'm just going to do a little sight-seeing. _Magic Kingdom_ isn't going anywhere. I'll be back in time to see the fireworks over Cinderella's Castle."

Although most of his companions somewhat believed what he said, only Ciciley – his first youngest sister – didn't quite so. Her curiosity peeked, and she was heavily curious to know what her brother's _real_ intention was for going Downtown. It was that reason for why she put on a phony smile and say, "Well, I'm coming with you." Her response got another collection of surprised gasps and exclamations from the others, including Sean. "Hey, I've been curious to see a few places in Orlando myself. We come here every so often that we barely get to stop by them."

Watching her get back into the Explorer, Sean raised an eyebrow in suspicion. Next to Meagan, Ciciley was always so adamant about going to _Disney World_ whenever they got a break from working at KMUP. So were Rizzo and Pepe, for that matter, which was why it came as an even bigger surprise when Sean saw them reenter the Explorer also. Everyone stared at them in total disbelief – more so than how they reacted to Ciciley's "change of heart" – and Rizzo said on their behalf, "We, uh, heard dere was a really nice _Planet Hollywood_ outside of _Disney World_."

"Sí, de one dat Arnold Schwarzenheimer _did_ go to, okay." Pepe added.

Sean just stared at Ciciley and the two Muppets and shook his head. Yet he did it with a smile upon his face. He was not absolutely certain what he was getting himself into, but he was glad to be doing it with his sister and two best friends.

**Time Zone – 1977 (Before Temporal Displacement)**

"BRING HER BACK HERE _NOW_!!!"

Never before had Bunsen, Beaker, Kermit, or Robin heard Joanie sound so furious. The intensity in her voice made Bunsen's fingers practically quiver as he desperately tried to get the information on the Disney World she just arrived from back on the computer. He didn't have the heart to tell Joanie that he had accidentally pressed the "Execute" button as soon as she came out of the Magic Gateway chamber. Whether it was a force of habit or a slip of the wrist, he wasn't absolutely certain; but he did need to get that info back up.

"I-I'm trying, M-Miss Joanie! I'm t-trying!" Bunsen stammered under the intense pressure.

"WELL, TRY HARDER!!!"

"Joanie, take it easy!" Kermit spoke out, clearly seeing how distraught the young woman was.

"Don't tell me to take it easy, Kermit!" Joanie retorted. "Before you all hauled me out of there, I heard my mother being attacked by a total stranger from that world! Now either you bring _her_ back out or send _me_ back in!"

Bunsen tried his best to retrieve the information needed to bring her mother back, but found it unexpectedly difficult. "I'm sorry, Miss Joanie! I cannot get the exact coordinates back!"

Joanie looked as if she were about to explode on the Muppet scientist. Kermit quickly interjected before she could've done so, asking Bunsen, "Well, why can't you? It seemed so easy before."

"Before I was merely entering in the destination." Bunsen clarified. "But now, after executing the data – which I take full responsibility in _accidentally_ doing upon your arrival, Miss Joanie – I am trying to reconfigure the coordinates of when I last retrieved Miss Joanie. In doing that, I _might_ be able to bring Mrs. Navarro back into our realm safely."

"Then why is it so hard to do that _now_?!" Joanie responded.

"Because Beaker and I have never came across an error like this before. It has always been the simple process of entering the coordinates, going into the machine, coming back to our home realm, and executing the data. Once the data is executed, there is no getting it back…at least not the _exact_ bit of information."

Joanie did not want to hear this, not only because much of it went over her head but also because it meant she might never see her mother again. As much as she tried to maintain her composure, she was very close to putting her hands around Bunsen's neck. She never thought of herself as the violent type; but when family is involved, no one had better stand in her way. All she could do was bite her lower lip in frustration and try her best not to explode, especially with Robin still in the room.

"Bunsen, can't you just send Joanie back the same way as before?" Robin asked, hoping to bring some leisure to Joanie's anxiety.

"I could, but there's a possibility of a rupture in the space-time continuum. Remember when I said that this machine works as one-half of a time machine? Well, there could be a risk in Miss Joanie disrupting the flow that's been set by her and Mrs. Navarro when they entered into the realm. The results of disrupting that flow could be catastrophic to both our world and the other."

The overwhelming wave of bad news continued to increase Joanie's anxiety. It was too much for her heart to take and she had to leave the room before it got any worse. Robin watched her leave, feeling very disappointed that there was nothing more he, his uncle, or the two Muppet scientists could do to help. She went back to the Backstage Right area, hoping to have some alone time. However, the sudden appearance of Fozzie and Gonzo ruined that opportunity.

Both Muppets seemed very enthusiastic as they approached her, obviously due in part to the Theater's "new guest" introducing himself to all there. "Hey, hey! Joanie, did ya see the new space guy?" Fozzie asked her.

"Yeah, who is he? Is he a new act that Kermit's got for our next show?" Gonzo inquired.

Joanie was so distraught at the moment that she could barely address the two in a civilized manner. "Listen, fellas, could you leave me alone for a while? I'm not feelin' all that hot right now."

Fozzie and Gonzo could see the tears beginning to stream down from her eyes and knew instantly that it was _not_ a good time. Rather than bother her any further, the two decided to head down to the basement, which they saw her exit from upon their entrance into the area, and see if either of them could get any more details about the "space guy" from Bunsen or Beaker. In the meantime, Joanie was left all alone there in the room, crying heavily on the stairway.

**Time Zone – 2010 (Before Temporal Displacement)**

While the Ford Explorer was driving through Downtown Orlando, the constant weather changes forced Sean to often at times switch on the windshield wipers. One minute it would be clear and sunny, and then the next it would be raining cats and dogs. It was one of the many oddities that came to living in such a crazy state. Regardless, he certainly loved every moment of it. He got more of a joy out of Downtown Orlando than _Walt Disney World_ itself.

There had been nothing but total silence in the Explorer during the entire road trip. Sean was certain that had to steam from the fact that Ciciley, Rizzo, and Pepe all knew as much as he did that they were not sight-seeing or shopping in Downtown Orlando. After a long while, it began to tire him, and he bluntly said to the passengers, "We're going to the old theater."

Ciciley glanced at him with a surprised look. As happy as she was to have finally found out the truth, she was as perplexed as Pepe and Rizzo were. "You mean the old Muppet Theater? What business do you have to take care of there?"

"Does dis have anything ta do with dat ol' rubba chicken dat Fozzie lost twenty-three years ago?" Rizzo asked.

"No. I just have to see something…important." Sean hesitantly answered.

Ciciley stared long and hard at him, nodding slowly in understanding. "So it _does_ have something to do with Mama, doesn't it?"

Sean didn't answer; instead, he kept his eyes on the road the entire time. As he did, he heard Pepe sheepishly admit, "Okay…I lie. Dere is no _Planet Hollywood_ outside of _Downtown Disney_, okay." But, apparently, his confession seemed to have fallen on deaf ears as everyone knew it was untrue from the moment he made the claim.

Once again, silence fell over the Explorer, but it didn't last for very long. Within a few minutes, they finally arrived at their destination. In a decades-old, nearly-abandoned district of Downtown Orlando, they found the aged, worn-out, and boarded-up complex that used to be the Muppet Theater. It surprised the four that it was still standing after nineteen years without service. If Bunsen's machine was still inside of there, it certainly was not running with any available electricity.

Sean pulled the Explorer into the back alley of the abandoned theater and parked it there for the time being. The four exited the vehicle and walked right up to the rusted stage door, which looked to be locked. Just as Sean reached for the doorknob and turned it slightly, the door suddenly came off its hinges and collapsed right into the dark, dusty interior. Witnessing this, Rizzo sarcastically remarked, "Guess we won't be needin' a key or credit card, eh?"

The first one to walk in was Sean, who used his hand to cover his mouth and nose from the large collection of dust that had gathered in the building for two straight decades. Ciciley, Rizzo, and Pepe had done the same as they followed him in, seeing how much was either covered by white sheets or left opened to the dust in what used to be the Backstage Right area of the Muppet Theater. Even Kermit's old coffee mug – with his name labeled on it – was sitting at the counter desk that he and Scooter often stood near during shows. It was a little depressing to see that it was filled with dust instead of coffee.

Sean gazed around, trying to remember where exactly Muppet Labs used to be located. It had been years since he, Ciciley, and Kimberly used to run around the building as kids, playing with funny characters like Sweetums, Pops, and Beauregard while their mother was working with the others. Meagan was born just a few months after the Muppet Theater had officially closed down, and she never got to experience some of the joys that came with being there. If there was one good thing that came out of being there, it was all of those old memories flowing back to Sean and Ciciley.

Of course, leave it to Pepe and Rizzo to ruin a good moment of reminiscing. "Boy, whadda dump dis place became!" Rizzo voiced his criticism on the condition of the abandoned theater.

"Sí! I'm sure glad I wasn't here during its 'heyday', okay." Pepe added with a chuckle.

Ciciley refused to take any more of their harsh criticism. "Hey, knock off the wisecracks, you two. This place used to be a great hangout for us back then. So many great things happened here."

"Like what, Louie Anderson's career held its last dying breath?" Rizzo jested, creating a bellow of laughter from himself and Pepe.

Ciciley just shook her head at the two and ignored their witty banter, returning her focus on her brother, who appeared to have remembered exactly where the old laboratory of Bunsen and Beaker's was. The door to it was locked and boarded, posing a bit of a challenge. But Sean quickly overcame it, once he used all the strength of his right leg to kick down the wooden boards, which have been weakened from time. The door itself was an easier obstacle, considering how it was just as old as every other door in the old theater.

With access granted to what used to be Muppet Labs (which, in actuality, was the theater's basement), the small group journeyed inside the pitch black atmosphere. Seeing a light switch on the way down the stairs, Sean flipped it and hoped that there was at least _some_ electricity still running through the building. To his immediate surprise, the overhead light switched on, slowly but surely. Slightly illuminated from the dim light, the room's contents were exposed to the group, as they were all covered with sheets.

Moving further in, they began removing the sheets from certain objects, revealing what was underneath. The one in the center that Sean removed had revealed what appeared to have been an old-modeled computer. He hadn't seen such a computer in years and wondered to himself what purpose it could've served to whatever Bunsen and Beaker had done down there. Meanwhile, Ciciley removed a few sheets from off what she thought would be the wall of the basement, but she suddenly discovered how there was nothing more than a set of supercomputers lined up against it, leaving nothing exposed. Rizzo and Pepe removed a few others, getting caught under them in the process, and showed more supercomputers lined up against the other walls.

While Ciciley went to help Pepe and Rizzo out from under the large sheets, she looked to Sean and wondered aloud, "What the heck did Bunsen and Beaker do down here?"

Before Sean could answer, he noticed one last item left covered in the room that was wider and larger than everything else inside there. It only took one large sheet to cover it, and after he yanked it away, his eyes widened with shock from what he had seen. Standing there before him, Ciciley, Pepe, and Rizzo was a bizarre set of machinery that consisted of a metal arch that glittered in a rainbow of colors and some type of chamber. They all stood by and observed it with looks of awe.

"Guess that should answer your question, Cici." Sean stated.

"It…sorta does," she remarked.

"Aye Chihuahua!" Pepe exclaimed. "Dis looks like somethin' outta _Stargate_, okay. How much jou wanna bet dat Kurt Douglas is gonna pop out of dis?"

Rizzo shook his head in disgust. "Dat's Kurt _Russell_, Pepe."

"I wonder how it works," said Sean, whose eyes never left sight of the unusual machine.

"I _don't_!" Ciciley cried. "There's a reason this thing was abandoned all those years ago. It looks dangerous."

But Sean was not listening to her warnings. Instead, he was going over to the computer located at the center of the room, switching it on as soon as he was able to find the "Power" button. Ciciley, Pepe, and Rizzo all saw what he did and grew more cautious than ever. "Uh, I don't think jou should do dat, okay." Pepe warned, and yet Sean still was not listening to reason.

The computer screen suddenly lit up with information as soon as it switched on. "Whoa!" Sean's eyes gazed at the array of text that filled the screen. It might as well have been all Japanese to him, because the technical terminology went over his head completely. Some of it looked like coordinates to something, but neither Sean nor his sister and friends could figure out exactly what. They all gathered around the computer, gazing upon the information and scratching their heads at the same time.

"What does it all mean?" Ciciley inquired.

"Maybe it's some type of code." Sean assumed.

"A code ta what?" Rizzo asked.

"Maybe it's a spy code like in dose 'James Bonds' movies!" Pepe excitedly exclaimed. "Dis could be secret intelligence at work, okay."

As far fetched as Pepe's assumption sounded, it sounded a little plausible to the others. Bunsen and Beaker _did_ get themselves in quite a few misadventures in the past – most of them just as "top secret" as whatever this experiment was. But this particular one really took the cake! This machine – whatever it was – looked like the most out-of-this-world thing they had ever invented.

While gazing over the computer, Sean noticed a peculiar button on the keyboard labeled "Execute." He figured that it would have some sort of effect on the strange information shown on the screen. Without thinking twice, he pressed the button – much to the surprise of Ciciley, Pepe, and Rizzo. "Hey! Wait a minute! Don't do that?!" Ciciley told him.

Before Sean could ask her why not, the four of them began to sense heavy vibrations coming through the area. The collection of information on the screen became scrambled and a lot harder to decipher than before. A sudden flash of light forced them to shield their eyes, and they realized how it came from the metal arch and chamber in front of them. The vibrations in the room grew more intense, becoming a heavy earthquake. All of the supercomputers in the room then exploded, shooting out bits of sparks at all sides of them.

"I dink somethin' like dis happened in _Stargate_, okay!!" Pepe shouted.

**Time Zone – 1977 (Before Temporal Displacement)**

Kermit held onto Robin, Fozzie held onto Gonzo, and Beaker held onto Bunsen as a fierce earthquake suddenly came over the basement. It was certainly unlike the others they had felt every time a real world subject went through the Magic Gateway. The source of it was also unknown to Bunsen and Beaker, seeing that they were not engaged in the process of transportation at that moment. Whether it was a normal earthquake or one caused by the machine remained to be seen; but they were all certain that there were _no_ earthquakes in Orlando.

"Bunsen, is your machine doing all of this?!" Kermit hysterically asked, hoping that somehow it did.

The Muppet scientist shook his head negatively and said, "I…I'm not sure, Kermit! Nothing like this has ever happened before!"

"Well, there's certainly a lot of stuff that has never happened before that's happening _today_!!!" The frog remarked, just as a series of sparks suddenly shot out from a few of the supercomputers.

In the Backstage Right area, Joanie was quickly snapped out of her despair as soon as she felt the enormous earthquake that was coming over the entire theater. She heard one of the dressing room doors open from the upstairs landing and saw a fully-awake Scooter coming out from the one he had been sleeping in. Dazed and confused over the sudden chaos that was happening, the gofer inquired, "What's going on?!"

So much had happened in the past hours that Joanie could not give him a direct answer to ease his confusion. Then, in the midst of all the pandemonium, a hysterical Buzz Lightyear entered the picture with his fingers over the button on his left arm. "Fear not, my alien friends! I made sure every living soul in the complex was evacuated at the moment the attack began! Have our adversaries breached yet?"

Scooter gazed over the bizarre figure that entered the picture with a perplexed expression on his face that was all too often shown around the Muppet Theater. He was unlike anything he had ever seen before, which was saying quite a bit with the likes of what he had seen there in the years he had been the resident gofer. However, that didn't keep him from asking the "universal" question, "Who's this?!"

Unfortunately, that was another question that Joanie couldn't answer for the gofer, being too concerned with what was happening all around them. She immediately headed back downstairs to the basement with Scooter and Buzz following her. Once they arrived, they were suddenly met with an intense beam of light that shot out from the Magic Gateway's arch and chamber. Joanie and everyone else in the basement shielded their eyes from it, but not for very long. Out of nowhere, a powerful force began suctioning them all towards the lit chamber.

Everyone clung onto something in the room that was sturdy enough for them to hang on for dear life. Joanie, Scooter, and Buzz each grasped onto the rail of the staircase, while Bunsen, Beaker, Kermit, Fozzie, and Gonzo hung onto the table. Robin, however, was unfortunate enough to be caught off guard at the time that the force was unleashed and sucked directly into the light within the chamber. Kermit watched helplessly as his nephew was drawn inside, screaming out his name, "ROBIN!!!"

"Uncle Keeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrmmmmmmmiiiiiittttttttt!!!!!!!!"

And in the blink of an eye, he vanished into the light within the chamber.

Seeing what happened to Robin put Joanie into immediate frenzy, not wanting to watch another member of her family disappear because of Bunsen's machine. Letting go of the rail, she allowed herself to be sucked by the unnatural force drawing her in. Buzz tried to stop her by grabbing her hand, but he only put himself in danger as well. Both of them were sucked directly into the light inside the chamber, vanishing into it. Kermit and the others watched as they disappeared without a trace, and Kermit himself was feeling scared and angry of what happened to Robin. He then made the sacrifice to let go and allow himself to be drawn into the chamber along with Joanie, Buzz, and his nephew.

The others didn't dare themselves to make the same sacrifice. Instead, they continued hanging on for dear life and hoped not to suffer the same fate as the four poor souls who disappeared before their very eyes. Then again, who was to say _they_ were the unlucky ones? Bunsen, Beaker, Fozzie, Scooter, and Gonzo were caught in the middle of a bizarre vortex – where was the luckiness in _that_?

**Time Zone – 2010 (Before Temporal Displacement)**

The unusual vortex coming out from the chamber proved to be much too powerful for Sean, Ciciley, Pepe, and Rizzo to overcome. As hard as they tried to hang onto the table and ride it out like a twister, each of their arms grew very weak and, one-by-one, they were sucked directly into the heart of the vortex. Rizzo, being the smallest, was the first one to be drawn in, screaming for "Mommy" as he vanished into the light. Pepe went next, quoting what Ciciley and Sean could only guess was a line from _Stargate_ – it was a little hard to tell from the gusts of wind blowing past their ears.

Ciciley was soon following, until Sean grabbed a hold of her right hand and tried his best to keep her away from the light. Her black, red-highlighted hair blew in all directions, covering her bright blue eyes, which were undoubtedly showing signs of fear of what was happening. Sean was already regretting having pressed that button, which Ciciley warned him not to all too late. Because of his curiosity, he put her, his friends, and himself into great danger…or worse.

Soon he lost his grip on the table and was sucked right into the chamber along with Ciciley, who continued grasping onto his hand with both of hers. The two siblings tumbled across the floor and into the machine, fading into the light emitting from inside the chamber. With the absent space in the basement, there was no longer anyone left to suffer from the raging vortex except for the old equipment, which was tearing apart from the force of the vortex. The computer – the source of the whole occurrence – began to crumble into a ball of scrap metal, almost as if it were a piece of paper. And then, as soon as it was completely destroyed…

_KA-BOOM!!!!_


	9. Chapter Eight: Realm Zone 1937 After TD

**Chapter Eight: Realm Zone – 1937**** (After Temporal Displacement)**

"Where are you taking me?"

"Please…don't talk."

"But I just want to know…"

"_Please_!"

Diana obeyed the man's wishes – the same man who was the Evil Queen's guard, hired to kill Snow White far in the forest…in a secluded glade…where she would be picking wildflowers…just as Diana remembered it. Only it was _not_ happening the way she remembered it. Apparently, in whatever version she stumbled upon through Bunsen and Beaker's machine, nothing was happening the same way as before. _Nothing can ever happen the same way as before when we interfere_, she concluded in her thoughts. Whatever her presence there in that particular Disney World had caused, it was clearly alternating events.

The Evil Queen's guard was escorting her directly to the castle she dwelled in, her wrists shackled as if she were a prisoner. Whatever crimes she committed were unclear to her, seeing that she was not supposed to have even existed in that realm. However, possibilities still ran through her mind as if she did. But, after some time, she eventually began to wonder what became of Joanie. Her screams obviously were loud enough for her to hear from a great distance; so why had she not come to her aid?

When Diana and the Queen's guard arrived at the castle, she was taken directly through the front entrance, coming across the foyer that was decorated in the Queen's royal colors (purple, black, and gold), and downstairs to a dark, dreary, and damp area that could only be the dungeon. Before going down, the guard had taken one of the torches situated on opposite sides of the wooden door leading to the dungeon and lit it through a nearby cauldron. He used it to guide their way down the spiral staircase and straight into the heart of the dungeon, where three holding cells stood on the left and right sides of the room. As Diana gazed around this never-before-seen room, she caught a horrifying sight: **Snow White lying on the floor of one particular cell**. She wasn't certain whether she was alive or dead, but she certainly hoped on the former.

The guard placed her in a holding cell across the one Snow White was placed in. He kept the shackles on her wrists and added a couple more that were chained to the wall on her ankles. She certainly was not going anywhere with that much security over her. But it was not like she had anywhere to go if she had chosen to escape. As far as she was concerned, she was already trapped long before she was placed inside that cell.

After locking her in, the guard went to the other torches hanging in the room, using the lit one he carried to light every single one of them up to illuminate in the pitch-black area. Once he had gotten to the last one, he told Diana, "I shall return shortly with Her Majesty. I would advise _not_ to contemplate any type of escape while I'm gone."

"Don't worry. I doubt I'm going anywhere." Diana assured, jingling her chains to make her point.

The guard then departed from the dungeon momentarily, leaving Diana with an unconscious Snow White as her only company. She glanced over to the young Disney princess and wondered what the Evil Queen might have done to her. There was a strong possibility that the poisoned apple could have been given to her much sooner than in the Dwarfs' cottage in the woods. If so, then that would make the Queen the fairest in the land…wouldn't it?

After a short time, the guard returned to the dungeon with the Queen herself in tow. Her presence nearly took Diana aback, being that she was just as menacing up close as she was from a movie screen. She carried quite a chilling aura, giving any who bore witness to her a true definition of the word "nightmare." Regardless, she was a very beautiful woman in her own way – a living contradiction of her own self.

Diana was so fascinated with meeting her in person that she almost did not realize that she was addressing her there and then. "So _you_ are the fairest of them all?!" Queen Grimhilde did not seem very impressed. "Impossible! You are not much older than I!"

"I'll take that as a compliment." Diana snickered.

"SILENCE, WENCH!!!" The Queen bellowed, causing Diana's chains to jingle again from her quivering body. Grimhilde turned her attention to her guard and asked, "Are you certain this was the _only_ one you found in the forest?"

The guard nodded and confirmed, "Yes, Your Majesty. There was no one else there but her."

"Um, Your Highness? If I may have your permission to speak?" Diana requested, prompting Queen Grimhilde to glance back at her in a very cold manner. "I was not actually in the forest by myself per say. I was actually there with my daughter…who appears to have left me behind for reasons unbeknownst to me."

The Queen's eyes suddenly flared with immense rage, as she turned to the guard and yelled, "You imbecile!!" She then followed her insult with a fierce slap to the guard's face, sending him tumbling back slightly.

Diana watched the unnecessary cruelty and shouted in the guard's defense, "Hey! Leave him out of this! It's not his…"

"_You_ are in no position to speak!" Grimhilde snapped. "I shall deal with you in due time." She then refocused on her guard and added, "_Both_ of you!" With that said, she stormed out of the dungeon.

Shaking her head at the Evil Queen, Diana let out an exhausted sigh. "Geez! Fifteen minutes into the story, and she hasn't even become the ugly witch yet! Doesn't even need that potion, if you ask me!"

The guard, rubbing the left side of his face, looked up at her curiously. "You…You have a daughter?"

"I'm sorry I didn't say anything, but you didn't give me a chance to speak." Diana told him. "I don't know where she is right now, but I'm starting to see what she meant about all of this. It's _very_ different from how I'd first seen it all when I was a little girl."

The guard looked very confused. "Seen what? What do you mean? Who are you? Where have you come from?"

So many questions the guard was throwing out to her – Diana could not find a proper way to explain it all to him. All she could really tell him was, "You wouldn't believe if I told ya."

"I would believe that the Queen would do anything to be fairest in the land…even have me _kill_ her own stepdaughter."

Diana's eyes widened on the word "kill," having been reminded of what villainous act Queen Grimhilde had this guard attempt in the original telling of the story. She glanced at Snow White's unconscious form and wondered aloud, "You…killed her?"

"No!" The guard quickly exclaimed. "I could never kill the little princess!"

"Then why is she laying there like she's dead?"

The guard gazed upon Snow White's inert form and explained, "As soon as the Magic Mirror revealed there was someone fairer than both Her Majesty and Snow White, the Queen had her brought back to the castle and cursed her with a harmless sleeping spell. It was only to keep her hidden here in the dungeon until it was discovered who was the fairest of all."

Listening to the guard's explanation, Diana immediately discovered that her earlier assumption of the "poisoned apple" scenario had been confirmed. "Oh, no! She _did_ give her the apple already!"

The guard looked to her in confusion. "How did you know it was an apple the Queen had given her?"

"Because it was in the story – only a lot later than now! The spell that she put her on wasn't 'harmless'! It's called the 'sleeping _death_'! Snow White is _dead_!"

Shock registered on the guard's face as he realized what had truly become of the princess that was in the same room as them. He could no longer bear the sight of her body lying in the nearby cell any more and left as soon as possible. Diana, however, wanted him to stay long enough to tell him that she wasn't _completely_ dead and only in a long slumber that she could only be awakened from by the kiss of her true love – that being Prince Charming. But he was already gone before Diana could have even said a word. And she was left all to herself to stare at the lifeless form of Snow White, feeling completely helpless in saving her.

As Diana stood there in the holding cell, shackled at her wrists and ankles, she wondered what became of her daughter. If she was still somehow there in that Disney World, she hoped that the Evil Queen would never find her. Even though it was a little humorous to imagine either her or Joanie being the new "fairest one" in the land, their presence in the realm had caused quite an unexpected turn of events. She could not help but to continue thinking how right Joanie was in interfering with the Disney Worlds. The trouble she was in at that point in time was clearly punishment for her meddling.

* * *

"Magic Mirror on the wall, hear now this most important inquiry of all!" Queen Grimhilde consulted. "I wish to know of the woman I have locked away in the dungeon! Is she the fairest one you speak of?"

The face of the Magic Mirror was expressionless as he revealed the information that the Queen wanted. "The prisoner you contain…is _not_ the fairest one…the one you seek shalt still remain."

Although the Queen was beyond furious, she still remained her physical composure long enough to make a request to the Magic Mirror. "Show her to me! Show the one that I must seek to become fairest one of all!"

"Though she no longer dwells in _this_ land, there is another one similar in nature she resides. Fair warning I give to your hand, for what I shall show you now your approval confides."

"I _must_ see! I _must_ find out who she is!!"

The Magic Mirror simply stared at the Queen – still remaining without expression – and stated, "Very well. Behold the world in which our fairest one shalt dwell…"


	10. Chapter Nine: Realm Zone 1991 After TD

**Chapter Nine: Realm Zone – 1991 (After Temporal Displacement)**

Everything appeared extremely hazy before Joanie's eyes as soon as she opened them. She heard birds chirping, which made her sudden dilemma seem a bit cartoonish for her taste. It did not take her very long to realize that the reason for everything being so hazy was the sudden loss of her glasses. This was confirmed as soon as she touched the area around her eyes and felt only her eyelashes and skin.

"Are you looking for these?"

She looked up as soon as she heard the deep, powerful voice of a young man, seeing a tall, dark figure standing near and handing something over to her. Without hesitation, she reached up and grabbed the object being given. Delight registered on her face when she realized it was her glasses, which were found by this kind stranger that she wished to see, along with everything else. All she remembered before blacking out was being sucked by a strange vortex that had engulfed her, Buzz, Robin, and Kermit.

Once her glasses were back on her eyes, the world around her came into focus, and she found herself once again back in a forest. Only this one looked vastly different from the other she was a part of in the other Disney World. The trees lacked the luscious green leaves that made them whole, leaving them with a very unappealing look. Even the grass looked unkempt, being wet and muddy in a few places and totally pale in most others. And, to top off the brooding atmosphere that the forest had, the sky looked very gray – almost as if a rainstorm was on the approach. If this was indeed the same forest Joanie was in before, it certainly changed drastically in the short time she was away from it.

Joanie's gaze finally rested on the stranger standing near her – a young black male who was not much older than her. Much to her surprise, he looked almost identical to Tomas in many ways, not just from heritage. He had a very friendly face, which eased Joanie's caution over his presence a little. After what occurred in the previous realm she was in, she was certainly not going to let her guard down. Whoever this young man was, he clearly was not going to hurt her – at least not after he so generously returned her glasses.

"Everything good?" He asked her.

Joanie nodded. "Yeah, I think so."

The young man nodded along with her. "Good. Now you can help me figure out where I am and how the heck I got here."

His statement came as a surprise to Joanie, as she figured that he might have been from this world himself. However, she should have realized that he wasn't, considering the way in which he was dressed in blue jeans, brown hiking boots, and a red t-shirt. Her curiosity peaking, she asked the young man straight out, "Who are you?"

"My name is Sean," he answered while holding out his hand.

Looking at it, Joanie smiled – he certainly was a friendly individual. Not wanting to be rude, she reached up and shook his hand. "Joanie…Joanie Navarro," she introduced herself.

Sean grinned. "Well, it's nice meeting you, Joanie. But I figured you might want some help in getting your butt out of the mud."

Joanie looked down at where she was sitting, and she was indeed deep in a muddy section of the grass. "Oh, shoot!" She yanked on Sean's hand and Sean yanked in the opposite direction, working together in getting Joanie out of the mud. Surveying the mess made to the back of her jeans and lower half of her shirt, she couldn't help but to gripe out loud. "Bunsen's blasted machine! If I ever get back to the real world, I'm going to tear that thing piece by piece!"

"Not sure that'd be a good idea."

Joanie glanced at him, seeing the cautious look on his face, which made her even more curious over his presence there. "I don't remember seeing you in the basement when that _thing_ sucked us in. Were you one of the members of tonight's audience?"

Sean shook his head and chuckled. "It's so crazy."

"Whatever 'it' is, it can't possibly be any crazier than this."

Again, Sean shook his head – only he did not chuckle that time. "When you hear it, you'll know for a fact that it is." For a brief moment, he was silent. And, finally, he revealed to her, "I'm from the future."

Joanie blinked twice in surprise. "Say what now?"

Before Sean had the chance to elaborate, a familiar voice shouted out, "Joanie! Joanie! Joanie!"

Both she and Sean turned to where it came from and saw Robin running towards them with a Muppet rat following behind. Seeing it catching up with him, Joanie suddenly freaked out and cried, "Robin! Watch out behind you!"

"Huh?" Robin uttered, doing exactly what Joanie had said and looking behind him. He saw no one but the rat, whom he did not seem to have any surprise in seeing.

When Robin was close enough, Joanie snatched him up and held him in a very protective manner. As soon as the rat came within their proximity, Joanie started stomping all around him, desperately trying to get him away. "Shoo! Shoo! Shoo! You filthy little monster!!"

"Hey!"

_STOMP!_

"Whoa!"

_STOMP! STOMP!_

"Cut it out!"

_STOMP! STOMP! STOMP!_

"KNOCK IT OFF, WILL YA?!"

The Muppet rat was forced to jump all around the grass, desperately avoiding the high heels of her sandals. Unfortunately, one of her stomps missed its mark and caused both her right shoe and her right foot to get buried deep in some mud. Upon yanking it back out, only her bare foot came out of the dark brown and gray mess. Luckily for the rat, that was the only thing keeping her from making another attempt at trying to squish him.

"Lady, are youse nuts?!" He screamed.

"Don't hurt him, Joanie!" Robin pleaded. "He's my new friend, Rizzo!"

Joanie groaned over how cold and wet her foot felt, the messy state her shoe was in when she pulled it out of the mud, and the sight of Rizzo himself. "Robin! What has your uncle told you about the rats in the Theater? They're _not_ your friends!"

Rizzo chuckled at her comment. "Dat's not what ya said when ya invited me into yer home earlier, Mrs. Thom…"

"I apologize if Rizzo scared you, Joanie." Sean quickly interrupted his rodent companion. "He's with me."

The rat glanced at his friend in confusion. "Joanie? Shouldn't ya be callin' her M…?"

Again, Rizzo was interrupted once Sean began clearing his throat loudly and pointed to Joanie's mud-covered sandal. "I think there's a creek nearby if you want to wash that off, Joanie."

Although Joanie felt very grateful of Sean's suggestion, she still looked a little disgusted with having to wash out all of the mud from her shoe. It did not help much that a cool breeze was blowing through the area either, chilling her bare right foot to the bone. "Thank you, Sean. Ugh! C'mon, Robin. You can help."

"Sure thing, Joanie." Robin graciously accepted, following her as she limped to the nearby creek to wash her sandal.

With Sean and Rizzo left by themselves, the Muppet rat inquisitively asked his human friend, "What's gotten into ya? Why didn't ya tell her yer her son, man?"

"Because I just told her that I'm from the future, and she could barely believe that alone!" Sean exclaimed, trying to keep his voice so low that Joanie and Robin could not hear him. "Can you imagine how big of a shock it'd be if I just came out and told her I was her son?"

Rizzo looked down, his mind processing what Sean just said. "Jeez, never thoughta it dat way. Wow, dat'd be more messed up dan da stuff dey do on _Maury_."

"Exactly. That's why we're going to keep things hush-hush on the mother-son connection."

"Well, ya had better tell Cici and Pepe dat when we find them or else dey'll spill da beans for ya."

The mentioning of the other two members of their party made Sean glance around the forest in curiosity. "Hey, speaking of those two, I wonder where they are. We all got sucked into the same vortex. You'd think they would end up the same place as we did."

Before either of them could have pondered any further on the matter, they suddenly heard Robin's voice from the short distance away. "Hey, guys! Come here!"

Following the little frog's voice, they both arrived at the creek, which Joanie was crouched near, washing away the mud from her sandal. The water was so cold that it not only made her shoe more unbearable to wear, but it also nearly froze it solid as well. Rather than putting it back on her foot, she kept it tucked away in her left jeans pocket, hoping the tight space inside of it could warm the shoe up some. Even as she kept it in there, it felt just as cold as it would have been on her foot.

Once Sean and Rizzo arrived, Joanie stood up and pointed directly ahead. "Look over there!" They followed her finger and spotted a sight that was only familiar to Sean: **the castle from **_**Beauty and the Beast**_. "I think that's the same place where my mother was taken."

"Taken?" Sean inquired.

"I think I was in this same place not very long ago with my mother. I heard her being kidnapped by someone, and I think she might have been taken to that castle there."

Robin nodded with a look of determination on his face. "Then let's go in there and get her."

With a gung-ho attitude, Joanie and Robin were about to march their way toward the castle. But then Sean suddenly cried to them, "Wait!" The two stopped in their tracks and looked at him in confusion, just as Rizzo did also. "It doesn't look safe. Maybe we should find help first, before going in there."

Joanie glanced around with her arms stretched out in a questioning manner. "Who's gonna help us? We're all alone out here." She then wore a mask of intense resolve as she added, "Besides, I'm willing to go through any danger necessary to get my mother back." After making that declaration, she and Robin trekked across the creek, taking turns stepping over the rocks protruding from the water and creating a simple path for them to cross over.

"Boy, ya really have been jittery for da past minutes." Rizzo told Sean.

Sean gazed at the rodent, clearly aggravated over his naïve nature. "Do you even know _where_ we are right now?"

"I dunno. In 'Da Land of da Lost'?"

Sean rolled his eyes. "Rizzo, my mother was right about all that talk of parallel dimensions and whatnot. Look at us…notice anything different?" Rizzo did as he said and glanced over parts of his body, seeing how animated they suddenly appeared. "We're in some sort of universe based on Disney cartoons. It was Bunsen's machine that sent us here."

"Wow. Yer right!" Rizzo looked across the creek to see Robin and Joanie on the other side, waiting for them. "Den where exactly are we headed?"

"You remember _Beauty and the Beast_, right?" Rizzo nodded in reply. "Well, that castle they spotted is the same one where the Beast lives."

Rizzo's eyes registered extreme fear. "See ya!" He was about to run in the opposite direction of the castle, until Sean snatched him by the tail and lifted him high enough so the rat would be directly at his eye level.

"Did you also forget the ravenous wolves in the movie, too? If you get lost in these woods, they are bound to find and _eat_ you alive!"

Dangling upside down, Rizzo was not certain if it was the blood rushing to his head or just plain old common sense that made him say, "I, uh, guess I'll take my chances with da Beast."

"Hey!" Joanie shouted from across the creek. "Are you guys coming?"

Sean waved in approval to Joanie while whispering to Rizzo, "Just relax. I'll make sure we'll get out of this okay."

"Yeah, sure. Yer practically Disney's answer ta Supaman."


	11. Chapter Ten: 2010 & 1991 After TD

**Chapter Ten: Time Zone – 2010 (After Temporal Displacement)**

Scooter slowly started to regain consciousness after the wild and crazy incident that just occurred in the basement. He felt more dazed and confused right at that moment than he did earlier when all of the chaos broke loose. Getting to his feet, he realized that he was still standing on the staircase and looking over the disheveled state that the basement was left in. Fozzie, Gonzo, Bunsen, and Beaker were all standing around the computer sitting on the table at the center of the room, while Joanie and the spaceman he had seen earlier were nowhere around. The gofer continued down the steps to join the four Muppets, as they were practically frantic over what just occurred, talking over one another.

"Bunsen, what happened?"

"Where are Kermit and Robin?"

"Meep! Meep! Meep!"

"I know! I know! I am trying to get everything in order right now!"

"Where did that space guy come from?"

"Yeah, who was he? And what does this machine do?"

"Meep! Meep!"

"Yes, it will take some time to reach them, but I believe…"

"GUYS!" Scooter screamed, instantly silencing them out of their unordered conversation. "Will you all calm down? I'm sure Bunsen has a reasonable explanation for what's going on." He then looked hopefully to Bunsen and asked, "Don't ya, Bunsen?"

Bunsen stared at him awkwardly and stated with the shake of a head, "I…I-I don't know."

"Well, _that's_ not very reasonable!" Gonzo retorted.

Scooter let out a sigh, realizing that he would not get to the root of the problem anytime soon. So he instead asked the Muppet scientist, "Alright – well, just tell us what the machine actually does."

"We've _seen_ what it does, Scooter! It's a big, scary vacuum cleaner!" Fozzie exclaimed.

"Really?" Gonzo remarked. "I figured it had to be some kind of weather machine with the huge tornado that blew through here."

Between both of their comments, Beaker let out a long string of angry meeps. Fozzie and Gonzo were taken aback from the harsh words he had used – most of which they could not repeat in plain English. Before he could have said much more, Bunsen eased his tension and said, "Beaker, don't be upset at them. They don't understand."

"Understand what?" Scooter questioned. "What does this machine do?"

Bunsen took a deep breath and explained as calmly as he could, "It opens a portal between our world and one rooted on animated tales out of Walt Disney's collection of cartoons from the past, as well as those in the future. So far, we've achieved in not only journeying into these said worlds, but also bringing one of the characters into _our_ realm."

Scooter, Fozzie, and Gonzo were each frozen stiff with bewilderment. It was the most far-fetched idea for an invention they ever heard, which was saying a lot in the case of Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker. In response to what was revealed to him, Scooter uttered, "Um…alright…well…that's a start…I guess."

_RRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!_

The five Muppets nearly jumped out of their foamed skins when they heard the monstrous howl from within the chamber installed with the machine. Something inside wanted to get out badly, which was evident from the dents he was putting into the _steel_ door of the chamber, each time he pounded into it. And it seemed as if he would get it, as more and more dents were pounded through the door until the point that it was practically bending. Seeing that it was, the five Muppets hid beneath the table, not wanting to be seen by whatever was bursting out.

Once it finally did, it let out another monstrous howl that vibrated every part of the room including the table Scooter, Fozzie, Gonzo, Bunsen, and Beaker were hiding beneath. The five Muppets peeked over the corners to see what it was that had escaped. What they had seen was something they could barely believe. It was a seven- (or maybe _eight_) foot tall _beastly_ creature, wearing a long dark purple cape and dark blue pants. Its eyes were bright blue, and it had horns, claws, and razor-sharp fangs. This beast stood over what was once the door to the chamber, lying on the floor in a bent condition.

After letting out another fierce roar, the beast situated itself on all fours and began charging out of the basement, moving up the stairs and busting its way out through every door in the theater until making it outside. With the beast gone, Scooter and the others climbed out from underneath the table and surveyed the damage that was caused to the chamber door. Beaker meeped a worried inquiry to Bunsen. "Beaker, this is no time to fret about a door! We have another subject who has escaped from the 'Disneyverse'!"

"That _thing_ came out of a Disney cartoon?" Scooter cried.

"One from the future, to be precise." Bunsen indicated. "And we must bring him back here, before he causes any harm out in the real world."

Fozzie and Gonzo exchanged a terrified glance, knowing exactly where this situation was going. Before either of their names could be brought up, they told Bunsen and Beaker…

"Well, good luck with that!"

"Yeah, we'll send you a postcard from Fiji!"

The two were just about on their way out of the basement, until Scooter shouted to them, "Hold it, you two!" Fozzie and Gonzo stopped in their tracks and turned to Scooter, looking very afraid. "As much as it scares me to admit it, Bunsen is right – we _have_ to get that thing back here, if we're going to fix whatever's going on."

"How are we supposed to get something that big and hairy back _here_?" Fozzie asked.

Bunsen pondered hard over Fozzie's question, thinking of a perfect plan for achieving that task. Then he focused on two words that Fozzie used in describing the creature – "big" and "hairy." It reminded him of a situation that involved a big and hairy friend of theirs. "Scooter, do you remember last Christmas when Sweetums went on a wild rampage after consuming large quantities of special-flavored ice cream that Beaker and I made?"

Scooter shook his head in disgust. "Ugh, how can I forget? It took weeks for NASA to find Miss Piggy, after he hurled her up into deep space!"

Reaching into one of the table drawers, he pulled out a purple aerosol spray canister and handed it to Scooter. "This is the 'Mind Control Spray' that I used to calm him down. Use it on that beast, and he'll be under your complete control."

The gofer took the can and looked down upon it, seeing how much it resembled an ordinary aerosol spray can used to get rid of bad smells in houses or – more accurately – restrooms. "Thanks, Bunsen," he said before turning to Gonzo and Fozzie and adding, "Alright, guys. Let's go find that beast!" It was something he could not believe he just said…and – for that matter – neither could Fozzie or Gonzo.

**Realm Zone – 1991 (After Temporal Displacement)**

One fine morning, a young girl in a blue and white peasant dress with a white apron walked out from her home and headed in the direction of a nearby French village. She had majestic brown eyes and wonderful long brown hair that she wore with a blue bow. Even her name was magnificent – Belle. A beautiful smile was donned over her gorgeous face while she happily waved to the birds flying over her and carried a small basket. If her appearance was not enough to express how picturesque she was, then certainly her voice would, as she began singing upon her journey to the village.

"_Little Town, it's a quiet village. Every day, like the one before. Little town, full of little people, waking up to say…_"

"Hola!"

Belle stopped as soon as she noticed two peculiar strangers standing in front of her – one was a young woman who was not much older than her with black hair and red highlights and the other was…well…she was not quite certain what it was, but if she had to guess, she would say it was a king prawn. But was it her imagination or was the king prawn actually _talking_ to her? Taken aback, she stammered a response, "Uh…m-may I help y-you?"

Seeing the exasperated look on the face of the young woman with the strange hair, Belle heard her whisper to the odd creature, "I told you that you should've hid in the bushes while I handled this."

"Oh, like jou are any more normals than me, okay?" The king prawn whispered back to her.

"Oh, don't _even_ start with me you little fish, I'll…"

"Excuse me!" Belle spoke up, clearly hearing the whispering between the two getting louder with each retort. "Where…did you both come from?"

Neither the young woman nor the talking king prawn knew how to respond to that question. But the young woman did her best to explain anyway. "Well…we definitely come from somewhere that's _a lot_ far from this place. We…uh…" It was certainly a lot harder than she imagined it to be. However, she found an easier approach – this was, of course, Belle she was talking to, someone who loved reading fantasy tales. She told the Disney Princess, "We're mystical beings from another land."

"Say what now?" Pepe uttered in surprise.

Belle almost seemed amused by what she heard from the young woman. "Mystical beings from another land? Oh, my!"

The young woman nodded with a smile. "Yes. My name is Ciciley, and this is Pepe. We've come very far to find a couple of friends of ours."

Pepe began to see where Ciciley was going and added, "Sí, okay. One looks just like me, except he's ugly and talks funny." He noticed how Ciciley was giving him a cold look and said in his defense, "What? He is!"

Before the conversation could go on any further, the three of them suddenly heard commotion happening within the nearby village. They turned their heads to see a large crowd of villagers gathered around a fountain in the center of the village. From how they were shouting and screaming amongst themselves, it was evident that it was more of an angry mob than just a simple crowd of villagers. In realization of that, Belle, Pepe, and Ciciley ran into the village and approached the angry mob.

Looking over a few shoulders, they could see what had to have been the strangest standoff ever. A tall, very masculine, extremely muscular, blue-eyed, and handsome man in a red shirt with a golden collar, a brown belt, black pants, and heavy-action boots was aiming his large gun directly at the most bizarrely dressed stranger Belle had ever seen. Ciciley and Pepe, on the other hand, were well-acquainted with the stranger, as well as the "lively" frog accompanying him. They recognized them both as Kermit the Frog and Buzz Lightyear.

"Gaston?" Belle exclaimed, her eyes directed to the man aiming the gun at Buzz, who was aiming the laser on his right arm at Gaston, a huge red dot shining at the center of his forehead.

Pepe, witnessing the standoff between the two characters, voiced his amusement. "_Ay caramba!_ Now dere's something jou won't see every day, unless it's on one of dose Ditz-see fan forums, okay."

Kermit, who was shielding himself behind Buzz, tried his best to ease the incredible amount of tension coming over the area. Clearly, the crowd of villagers was not use to the likes of a high-tech spaceman and a talking frog. "Everyone, please! We don't mean any harm! We're just two strangers from a _very_ far place!"

"They're bewitched! They've come to cast a curse upon us all!" One of the villagers exclaimed, frightening the crowd even further.

In the meantime, Gaston and Buzz were not once taking their eyes or weapons off each other. Buzz aggressively told the huntsman, "Lower your weapon, humanoid! I repeat that I come in peace!"

"You lower yours, monster!" Gaston demanded while he glanced at the laser device being aimed at his head. "Whatever it is…lower it, before I blast you to smithereens!"

Belle turned her attention away from the altercation and focused on Ciciley and Pepe, pointing to Buzz and Kermit. "A-Are those two strangers the friends you were looking for?"

Ciciley was at a loss for words. As much as she wanted to tell Belle that they were not, she could not help but to wonder if Kermit and Buzz were in fact who they were looking for, albeit unexpectedly. If they arrived there in the same fashion that she and Pepe had, then they would have to continue convincing Belle of their story. In response to Belle's question, she told her, "Uh…yes! They are!"

Again, Pepe was surprised by her remark, but he kept telling himself that it was all part of a plan that she seemed to be making up as she went.

"Then I must stop Gaston before he hurts them!" Belle exclaimed, right before she pushed herself through the crowd of angry, scared villagers and approached the huntsman. "Gaston, stop! You can't shoot them!"

Gaston refused to take his eyes off Buzz, even as he addressed Belle. "Stay out of this, Belle! This is no place for a beautiful girl like you!"

"But they mean us no harm." Belle told him.

"You don't know that for certain!" Gaston snapped. "They're witches! Demons! Evil beings sent to destroy us all! And I am the only one who can stop them!"

Ciciley and Pepe pushed their way past the crowd as well to get closer to Kermit and Buzz. When some of the villagers took notice of their presence, they instantly became more alarmed, standing very far away from the two. It was not until they all became aware of them when Pepe told Gaston, "Jou should really chill out on dose horror flicks, okay."

Gasps sounded all over when Gaston and the villagers stared at Ciciley and Pepe, whose appearances shocked them more than Kermit and Buzz's. "Egad! There are _more_ of them!" Gaston quickly aimed his gun at the two other strangers, which forced them to raise their hands indistinctively.

"Yo! No need for all that, homey!" Ciciley cried.

Gaston raised an eyebrow in confusion at the one word uttered in her exclamation. "H…Homey?"

Noticing how distracted the huntsman was, a short, chubby man with a big nose named LeFou – who was Gaston's biggest "worshipper" and "friend" – shouted to him, "She's trying to curse you, Gaston! It's a curse word!"

"Homey isn't a curse word." Pepe clarified.

"No, but if he shoots that gun at us, I'll have a whole lot of them to spew out." Ciciley stated.

Kermit gawked at the two of them, seeming a bit enthralled by their appearance for reasons that differed from the villagers surrounding them. He was somewhat relieved to see another Muppet – one whom he had never met before, of course – there and then. "Who are you people?"

Pepe was a little surprised by his question. "Kermin…it's me, Pepe. Jou know…de King Prawn?"

The frog looked long and hard at the Muppet and shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I've never met you before my whole life. Are you a new addition to our _Muppet Show_ cast?"

Pepe glanced over to Ciciley, who looked just as surprised as he was. "I don't believe dis. Have I entered _De Twilight Zones_ or something?" He then looked over at Gaston, who was still aiming his gun at him and Ciciley. "And jou? What is up with jou, okay? Shouldn't jou be going after dat Beast guy who lives in dat castle?"

Hearing this from the king prawn, Gaston lowered his gun slightly and asked, "Beast? What _beast_?"

Ciciley realized what was happening and whispered to her Muppet friend, "Uh, Pepe? I think you'd better…"

"De one dat lives in de castle outside dis village? _Dios mío!_ Am I de only one who can remember de movie?"

Gaston and the villagers were heavily startled by the information that Pepe had given them all. Some of the women screamed, while others either fainted or gasped. The men began murmuring over each other, already formulating a plan of action. One of these men boldly yelled, "This beast must be their leader! If we kill it, then we should rid ourselves of this curse placed upon our beloved town!"

All of the men in the crowd then chanted in bloodthirsty manner, "Kill the beast! Kill the beast! Kill the beast!"

The chant brought a fire within Gaston that he never felt before. It was a fire that only a true hunter like himself could experience when he was fully aware of a prey – a formidable foe – that he should confront to prove himself. The huntsman stood upon the base of the fountain, so that all of the villagers could see him, and declared, "I will lead a cavalry of men to this castle! All women and children stay in your homes, lock your doors, and bar your windows! You each have my word that by dusk, this beast's head shall be _ours_!"

Every male villager roared with zeal over Gaston's enthusiasm. Ciciley lowered her head in despair, realizing that events were happening completely out of sequence with the original telling of this story. Gaston and the villagers were not supposed to have known of the Beast's existence until _after_ Belle had met and fallen in love with him, not _before_. Even as she glanced over to the Disney Princess, she could see how alarmed she appeared to be over the news of the Beast. It was a definite chance that she would _not_ fall in love with him in the same way she had in the original storyline.

"And you accursed beings!" Gaston exclaimed, pointing to her, Buzz, Kermit, and Pepe. "You all shall be locked away, until your leader falls at my hands!"

That, of course, was highly unacceptable to Buzz Lightyear. No innocents, including him, were going to be falsely imprisoned for crimes that neither of them committed. As Gaston gestured for a few male villagers to subdue them, Buzz's hand went to the left side of his suit where he pressed a large red button that activated a pair of large wings from the back of the suit with blinking red and green lights. Everyone stood back and stared in awe at what Buzz's high-tech spacesuit had just done, while Buzz knelt down on one knee and turned to Kermit, Pepe, and Ciciley. "Grab onto my wings!"

"What?" Ciciley remarked, a bit stunned by his proposal.

"They are a terillium-carbonic alloy and will support each of your weights! Now grab on!"

Ciciley, Pepe, and Kermit each looked very perplexed, but they eventually got what Buzz was asking them to do. They grabbed onto his wings and hung on tightly, just as they began to feel a strong vibration and a loud humming noise from the space ranger's suit. Streams of white smoke poured out fast and heavy from the bottom of the wings, where the boosters were located. This was certainly something new that Ciciley was witnessing from the _Toy Story_ character, who – as she remembered – was _not_ a real space ranger. But, apparently, from the way his wings were igniting, he was!

"_To infinity and beyond!_"

Buzz exclaimed his often repeated catchphrase as he lifted right off the ground and away from the crowd of startled villagers, soaring high into the morning sky with Kermit, Pepe, and Ciciley clasped onto his wings. The three "passengers" were screaming frantically as they were soaring fifty feet across the air. Ciciley's bright blue eyes were shut tight during the entire ride. Kermit and Pepe, on the other hand, had theirs wide open – as they always seem to be – looking all around from the white clouds they had flown through to the lusciously green trees passing below them.

Kermit expressed a mixed reaction of fear and joy as he shouted, "He can fly! He can fly! He can fly!"

"Wrong Ditz-see character, Kermin!" Pepe informed through his immense trepidation.


	12. Chapter Eleven: Realm Zone 1991 After TD

**Chapter Eleven: Realm Zone – 1991 (After Temporal Displacement)**

Rain as cold as ice began to fall as Joanie, Sean, Rizzo, and Robin exited the forest and came upon the front gate of the castle. Sean could practically feel the drops hitting sections of his face and chilling him to the bone. He was not so much as worried for Robin and Rizzo as he was for Joanie, who was walking across the ground with one bare foot. Between the chilly winds and frozen rain, there was a strong possibility that she would suffer from pneumonia in such weather conditions.

Before the group reached the gate, Sean stopped and stood on one foot, while placing the other over his knee, balancing himself as he started untying one of his hiking boots. Joanie took notice of his action and stopped in her tracks, right before Robin and Rizzo had done the same. Raising a confused eyebrow, she asked him, "What're you doing?"

"Your foot is going to freeze itself off, if you don't get a shoe over it right now," he said, and as soon as his right shoe came off, he handed it over to her. "Mine are pretty big, so it should be plenty warm."

She took the shoe into her hands and marveled over its incredible size with a grin. "Pretty big, eh?"

"Lookin' at da size of dat thing, dat's quite da understatement, pal." Rizzo complimented, which got him a real dirty look from Sean.

"Well, something's better than nothing." Robin indicated.

Joanie nodded with that sentiment from the little frog. "True. Very true." She then placed the oversized shoe over her cold, bare right foot, making sure to double-knot it to keep it securely fastened to her foot. In just two seconds of wearing it, she already felt her foot becoming a lot warmer. However, when she looked to Sean's right foot, she felt bad to see him wearing nothing more than a black sock over it. "Are you sure that you're not uncomfortable without one?"

Sean waved her concern off with a smile. "Nah! It's only temporary." He gestured to the castle ahead of them and added, "Once we get inside there, we can _both_ walk around barefoot."

Joanie chuckled. "It'll be like Woodstock all over again for me."

Rizzo did a double-take on her words. "Whoa, whoa! Hold da phone! _You_ were at Woodstock?"

"Just before I started eighth grade I did. Of course, my mother wasn't aware that I was even there. To this very day, she still doesn't."

Shaking his head in amusement, Sean smiled over her story. It was a highly intriguing fact that he had never known about his mother until that very moment. He never knew she was so independent at that age, considering how much she became the overprotective parent in her latter years. As much as he wanted to know more of the "Woodstock" story, the chilly wind and cold rain reminded him that there was a castle they needed to be in.

"C'mon, everybody. Let's stay focused on…"

He stopped and heard what could only be the sound of a jet passing by. But that seemed too impossible, considering there were no jet planes in _Beauty and the Beast_. Joanie, Robin, and Rizzo heard it as well and looked up along with Sean to see where it was coming from. Finally, Robin noticed a figure rocketing across the dark cloudy sky and pointed to it. "Look! Up in the sky!"

Joanie spotted it as well. "Is that a bird?"

"It's a plane!" Rizzo guessed.

"No," uttered Sean, "it's…" He squinted hard to make out what it was that was headed in their direction, and when he could finally see a few details, his eyes went from squinting to widening in surprise. "…Buzz Lightyear?"

It was even surprising to hear Joanie sound so relieved when she saw him and said, "Thank goodness! I was starting to think he was gone for good!" She waved her arms in the air to get Buzz's attention, which seemed to have worked as soon as the rocketing space ranger started descending their way.

The closer he got, the better they could see who else was accompanying the space ranger, clinging frantically onto his wings. Even Robin noticed one familiar passenger whom he excitedly indicated. "Hey, Uncle Kermit's with him!"

"And is that Pepe?" Rizzo inquired.

"And Ciciley?" Sean indicated, also spotting a familiar (and yet petrified) face. "She has a fear of heights, there's no way she could…" Of course it was quickly verified that she was in fact one of Buzz's passengers, as she was screaming hysterically, even upon landing.

Once Buzz got near land, his body switched from horizontal to vertical position, while the boosters from his wings simmered down. As soon as his feet hit the ground, Ciciley, Kermit, and Pepe each slowly and carefully climbed off Buzz's wings, which folded back into its "backpack" form. Noticing Joanie right in front of him, Buzz saluted and said, "It is a pleasure regrouping with you again, young humanoid. I thought surely you were gone for good when that wormhole sucked us all up."

"I'm fine, Buzz. Everything's groovy now." Joanie assured.

Sean's bewilderment appeared to have increased upon asking Joanie, "You two _know_ each other?"

Joanie grinned and answered, "I…guess you can say that."

Staring at the space ranger, Rizzo shook his head in disbelief. "Please tell me I'm not da only one _actually_ seeing this!"

A shaken Pepe walked right up to the rat and stated, "Believe it, _mi amigo_. He is _definitely_ de real deals, okay."

Sean approached his sister, Ciciley, who looked just as visibly shaken as Pepe had, kneeling down on the ground and taking deep breaths. He calmly asked her, "You okay?"

"I'll let you know when my heart gets out of my throat," she answered with a very hoarse voice. "We've gotta get outta here. There's a mob coming this way!"

Kermit, who was sharing a warm embrace with his nephew – reuniting with him again after being so harshly separated, added on Ciciley's news, "They're coming to kill the beast that lives in this castle!"

Joanie's ears perked on one word out of Kermit's information. "Beast? What beast?" She turned and looked to the castle, gazing upon every inch of it. "Unless you're talking about the Evil Queen from _Snow White_, 'beast' is too nice of a description for _her_."

Pepe glanced over at Sean and Rizzo in total shock. "Jou mean dat jou haven't told dem?"

"Wait! _You_ knew about this!" Joanie exclaimed to Sean, seeming both surprised and angry that he had been keeping secrets about the castle from her.

Buzz shook his head at the young man. "Bad move classifying important details like that from personnel, my friend."

"Okay, first off – _you_ aren't even supposed to be _here_, Mister Lightyear." Sean remarked, before turning to Joanie and adding, "I was going to let you know, but I didn't want you giving up hope at the same time that your mother might be in there. How was I supposed to know she is in a totally different cartoon?" Just hearing himself talk about such details made it all sound crazier than he deemed it to be. But it was all happening just the way his mother (the _older_ version of her) described it.

Joanie glared at him and was about to give a retort to his statement, until she and the others heard a crowd of people chanting from afar. Everyone turned and looked past the woods to see a mob of villagers led by Gaston heading through an alternate route into the castle via a bridge that led straight to another entrance. Seeing them arrive, disbelief registered on Ciciley's face. "How is that possible? They didn't even know where to find the castle in the first place!"

"Maybe dey followed da flyin' space ranger?" Rizzo sarcastically reputed.

"Are you implying that _I_ was responsible for this blunder, rodent?" Buzz hastily asked Rizzo.

"If da rocket pack fits!"

"Knock it off, you two!" Joanie brashly told them. "It's because of _all_ of us that they're here. Our presence in this world has changed things – possibly for the worse! We have to get out of here while we still can!"

"Wait a sec!" Sean spoke up in an urgent manner. "There might be a ferocious beast in that castle, but there are a lot of innocent people in there also, and they might fall victim to this mob's attack, unless we help them."

None of the others were accepting this idea of his. "_Oh, muchacho!_ Dey are just fictional characters, okay."

"I'm with him, Sean. It's not like it'll be the end of the world if something happens to them." Joanie said.

"What if it is? What if it's not the end of _their_ world, but ours?" Sean inquired. "I don't know about you all, but I'm not gonna take that risk." With that being established, he moved away from the group and headed to the gate, walking through it and heading straight for the front door of the castle.

Joanie and the others watched and were flabbergasted over his sudden actions. She sighed in frustration and turned to Ciciley, asking her, "Is he _always_ this determined?"

Noticing the young brunette for the first time since her arrival, Ciciley smiled upon the realization of who she was. Jokingly, she responded to her inquiry, "Guess he gets it from you."

Joanie shot her a confused glance. "Me?" She chuckled over her comment and added, "I've only met him just a few or so minutes ago."

Her response confused Ciciley, who thought by that moment her brother would have alerted the personal connection between them and the young brunette. As much as she wanted to tell her about it herself, she was quickly reminded of their current situation when Kermit brought their attention back to it. "We have to go in there and get him out, before things _really_ get out of hand."

Joanie nodded in agreement before leading everyone through the opened gate and straight into the castle. They followed Sean into a large room that they could only guess was the foyer of the castle. While inside of the enormous, perfectly-decorated room, Sean called out the names of a few particular characters that lived there. "Lumière! Cogsworth! Mrs. Potts!"

"Shh, man! Do you _want_ the beast to hear us?" Joanie whispered to him.

"What difference does it make with da mob comin' anyway?" Rizzo asked.

Sean attempted to call out the names again, but then he and everyone else heard a slight clinking noise, followed by clumping and clomping ones. They then heard the voice a Frenchman say to them, "Bonjour, invités!" At first, they did not see anyone in the room addressing them – not a single soul was there except for them. It was not until they looked down at the floor and noticed three _lively_ household objects moving and talking entirely on their own. One was a candelabra, another was a pendulum clock, and the third one was a teapot.

Joanie, Kermit, and Robin blinked repeatedly to ensure that they were not just seeing things. But they were in fact seeing three household objects _actually_ talking to them. Kermit shook his head and looked as if he was on the verge of fainting. "I-I'm gonna need some serious therapy after this," the frog uttered.

"What in the world…?" Joanie tried to question about the reason behind the existence of these enchanted items, but Sean was quick to interrupt her before she could have finished.

Skipping the introductions, Sean went straight to alerting these objects of their oncoming dilemma. "Listen, you all have got to ready yourself for an attack that's coming to this castle. There is a mob on their way here, and they are going to try and kill your master…the Beast!"

"Oh, dear! We are all doomed!" The talking clock known as Cogsworth exclaimed.

"But our master _isn't_ here in the castle, I'm afraid." Mrs. Potts, the talking teapot, informed.

That information befuddled Sean and the others. "What?"

"We cannot find him anywhere." Lumière, the talking candelabra, stated. "He has vanished!"

"Maybe he knew da mob was comin' and high-tailed it outta here." Rizzo assumed, but no one seemed to have taken his assumption seriously.

"It's probably for the best that he _isn't_ here, right?" Ciciley inquired.

"That maybe so, but that mob will be expecting to annihilate a beast one way or another." Sean remarked. "If they don't find him, then they'll just burn this whole place to the ground."

Lumière lifted one of his candled hands high, presumably to mimic a fist raised in defiance. "They will have to fight us first before they do!"

"Absolutely, Lumière!" Cogsworth bravely acknowledged. "Gather whatever brave souls within the castle you can to evict these encroachers once they've breached! If it's a fight they want, we'll be ready for them!"

Buzz was immediately enlightened by Cogsworth's gung-ho attitude. "That's the spirit, sentient clock being! I shall assist you in your preparation for battle!"

"Hold up, Buzz." Sean told the enthusiastic space ranger. "I've actually got something _better_ you could do."

Seeing the scheming expression on Sean's face, Joanie curiously asked, "What's on your mind, dude?"

"If Gaston's expecting to take on a beast, then we'll give him one to face."

* * *

Belle rushed back home as fast as she could, once Gaston and his mob departed from the village. The once pleasant and sunny day quickly turned into a dreary one, especially with the approach of a rainstorm. Before she could get caught in it, she was already well within her home, looking all over for her father, Maurice. However, just as she had arrived, her father – a short, mustached inventor with white hair that was balding at the top – was already greeting her at the door.

"Belle, I'm so happy you're back early!" Maurice exclaimed.

"Papa," Belle worriedly said – her attitude being a stark contrast to her father's, "I found out something terr…"

Maurice barely gave her enough of an opportunity in giving much of the details, being so excited that he abruptly interrupted her. "We have the most wonderful guest with us right now! She is a queen from another far away land!"

That news sounded so intriguing to Belle that she nearly forgot the situation that happened in the village earlier. "A q-queen?"

"Hello, Belle."

She heard a voice that sounded very enthralling yet slightly daunting – possibly due in part to its unexpectedness. Belle turned her attention to the next room from which a woman dressed in royal dark purple robes and wearing a glittering golden crown emerged. The expression on her face attempted to be welcoming but – to Belle – it just seemed very awkward, lacking any sort of proper expression. This woman was undoubtedly the queen whom her father was referring to.

"I am Queen Grimhilde. I have come very far to look for a maiden who is as fair as you are to join me in my kingdom."

Belle went from intrigued to captivated in less than a second. "You…Y-You have?"

"Most certainly." Grimhilde said.

"T-This is quite an honor, Your Majesty." Belle remarked. "But i-if you don't mind me asking, is t-there a special purpose behind my invitation?"

Half of a smile emerged from the queen's face. "My son…the prince of my kingdom…is to find a bride, in order to accept his place as ruler. When he discovered your existence, he was more than delighted in wanting to take you as his wife." The Queen approached Belle, taking Belle's hands into hers. Her touch felt extremely cold to Belle, who just figured it was because of the dropping temperature outside. "Belle, it would be the highest esteem if you were to become my successor as queen of my kingdom."

It was impossible for Belle to reject such a remarkable proposition. But her thoughts continued to drift to her father, whose well-being mattered more to her than anything else. Generously, she told Queen Grimhilde, "It's _very_ gracious of you to present such a proposal, Your Highness. But…my father…"

Maurice chuckled, waving off Belle's concern with a huge smile. "Oh, don't you worry about _me_, Belle. As long as you are happy, I'm happy myself."

Belle smiled, going right to her father and giving him a hug. "I promise that I'll be back, Papa." Once she let him go, she looked at his face once more, remembering every detail of it to keep within her memory for however long she would be away from him.

As soon as Belle's attention was on the queen again, Grimhilde immediately went to business. "We must not keep my kingdom waiting. They will be expecting us soon."

Belle's eyes suddenly went to the window, seeing the collective drops of rain tapping and streaming down the glass. It was a reminder to her of the huge storm that was approaching the area. "Your Majesty, t-the rainstorm…I completely forgot."

"It is of no bother, Belle. There is another means of reaching my kingdom that we shall partake." Grimhilde declared as she took Belle by the hand and led her to a mirror that hung by the door. Letting go of Belle's hand, she outstretched both of hers while addressing the mirror itself. "Forces of the mystic beyond, hear my command! Transport these two forms from where they stand!"

There were flashes of light from all around, accompanied by a series of loud, fierce thunderclaps. Maurice, who observed the scene in confusion, was forced to shut his eyes tight from the flashes and cover his ears over the thunderclaps, finding it all very overwhelming to his old senses. At the moment everything had ceased, he opened his eyes and uncovered his ears, finding the atmosphere calm just as it was before. Although the only difference was that Belle and Queen Grimhilde were no longer inside the home. A huge cloud of multi-colored smoke was left in their place, much to the shock of Maurice.

"Astounding!"


	13. Chapter Twelve: 2010 & 1991 After TD

**Chapter Twelve: Time Zone – 2010 (After Temporal Displacement)**

The radio frequency switched between good and bad at every turn of the knob – some stations sounding clearer than most that were utterly horrible. It drove Joie to the brink of insanity, wanting her sister – Gina – to just pick one station and stick with it. But the madness seemed to have gone on since they left the airport in their rental 2006 Dodge Charger. Driving through the downtown area of Orlando and trying to focus on looking for the very reason they were there, Joie finally reached her breaking point on her sister's constant station-switching.

"Would you _please_ stop at one, before my head explodes?" Joie yelled.

Gina turned the knob once more before she suddenly reached a song that best suited her. Turning up the volume, she let the song's lyrics burst loudly through the speakers…

_Every little thing she does is magic_

_Everything she does just turns me on_

_Even though my life before was magic_

_Now I know my love for her goes on_

Joie shook her head and rolled her eyes. "I really need you to focus right now. We have an important objective right in front of us, and you want to bust a groove."

"You make it sound bigger than it has to be, sis." Gina remarked. "Just take it easy and enjoy the life around us. I mean this is Florida – the land of delicious oranges!"

Reaching through the backseat she pulled out a small bag full of the particular fruit and offered one to Joie, who rejected it with the shake of the head. "I'm not hungry," she said in a very somber tone.

Gina could see the despair on her face; her own sense of joy and hopefulness being washed away just from seeing it. "We'll find him, Joie. You can't just lose hope like that."

"I am _not_ losing hope." Joie retorted. "I just think…it's pointless."

Gina was struck hard by her words. "Finding our missing brother is _pointless_?"

"No, no…that's not what I meant."

"I would _love_ to see you tell that to Marissa!"

"Oh, and what is _she_ gonna do? You and I have both said how he deserves better than _her_!"

"I'd love to see you say _that_ to her, too."

Joie scoffed at her words. "I'm not scared of her."

_RRRRRAAAAARRRRRGGGHHH!_

_SCREECH!_

The Dodge Charger instantly came to a halt at the moment Joie heard the earth-pounding roar echo throughout the district they were passing through. Several other vehicles had done the same, just as what appeared to be a _beastly_ creature was charging straight down the center of the road, leaping over several cars that stood in its way, including the Charger that Joie and Gina were sitting in. Although some of the bystanders and passengers were terrified at the sight of the out-of-control beast, most of them appeared to be delighted of it, recognizing the creature as the "Beast" from _Beauty and the Beast_. Whether or not it was some type of new technology Disney Imagineers were testing outside the perimeter of _Walt Disney World_ remained to be the question.

Gina and Joie, on the other hand, were not so easily convinced of that possibility, especially when they both spotted three Muppet characters running down the sidewalk and heading into the same direction the Beast was. This bizarre scene could only be summed up in a few words uttered by Joie, "You've gotta be kidding me!"

Gina had to blink twice to make certain she was not seeing things. She stammered an inquiry, "Wh-Where do you think he came from?"

Joie glanced at her sister and grinned. "Let's find out." With that said, she turned the wheel of the Charger and made a sharp U-turn, following after the Beast and the three Muppets.

"Let me get this straight – you want us to actually _follow_ the crazy scene that just _passed_ us?"

"Well, you asked."

"Startin' to wish that I hadn't now."

**Realm Zone – 1991 (After Temporal Displacement)**

Gaston and the angry mob of villagers were successful in breaking in through the side entrance of the castle, armed with a large assortment of weapons from torches to knives and swords. Upon entering the grand entrance, they found it filled only with assorted pieces of furniture, teacups, candlesticks, feather dusters, and cocks. The mob moved in slowly and cautiously, practically tiptoeing their way across the floor. LeFou picked up a candelabrum sitting nearby and intended on lighting it to guide them through the dark.

But that particular candelabrum suddenly came to life in his hand and shouted, "NOW!"

Out of nowhere, all of the objects within the room sprang to life just the same, attacking all of the humans standing there and throwing them out of the castle, one by one. One villager got a face full of a wet mop, while another was kicked at the seat of his pants by the legs of a chair. In the midst of all the chaos, Gaston stood in disbelief, wondering to himself how household objects could come to life in such a way. However, his primary focus was on the beast that dwelled somewhere within that castle. With heavy purpose, he broke off from the overwhelmed mob and headed upstairs, engaging in his search for the beast.

Armed with a bow and arrow, Gaston searched first within the West Wing of the castle, kicking down several doors and aiming his arrow at anything that moved inside. When he saw nothing worth firing at, he moved on to the next. He continued this action until he reached a hallway that looked to be ravaged by the very thing he was looking for. His heart racing and pulse pounding with anticipation (and even a little fear), Gaston readied his bow and arrow and entered the room at the far end of the hall.

Upon entering, he instantly discovered a tall shadowy figure standing near an open balcony, right beside what appeared to have been a glowing rose that floated within a glass case. Of course, Gaston could have cared less about the rose; all he wanted was to destroy the figure next to it – which he presumed to be the beast itself. Tightening his grip on the bow, he pulled back on its string while keeping the arrow perfectly straight and directed at the beast. He held his breath, closed one eye, and then – once he felt himself ready – released the arrow.

The arrow flew across the air with great precision; but once it struck its target…

_CLANG!_

A hollow sound of metal rang through the ears of an extremely puzzled Gaston. He stared at the figure, wondering to himself if this _beastly_ creature was made out of some type of metal or wearing armor. Not taking any chances, he dropped his bow and arrow and reached behind him to grab a hold of his gun. Unfortunately, all he seemed to be left grabbing was thin air.

"Looking for this, hotshot?"

The feminine voice came directly from behind him. At the moment he heard it, he spun around immediately and faced his unexpected follower. When his eyes locked onto her, he discovered a young bespectacled brunette holding his own gun. He did not recognize her at all nor did he care to know who she was. All he cared about was getting his gun back from the mysterious woman.

But he seemed to have been robbed of that opportunity when he felt a sharp pinch come over the area where his shoulder and neck connected, making his whole body turn rigid. Next thing he knew, he was slipping into unconsciousness, his limp body falling straight to the floor. The mysterious woman he encountered – who was, in actuality, Joanie – smiled over his fallen form. Then she addressed another party in the room – the one who severely pinched Gaston – Buzz Lightyear.

"Ya got him with the ol' Vulcan Nerve Pinch, eh?"

Buzz stared at Joanie oddly. "The what? No, that was a Kadorian Sleeper Hold. The most non-lethal submission attack they've taught us at the academy. He'll be sleeping for hours."

From behind the tall, dark figure that was believed to be the Beast, Sean and Ciciley stepped out and rejoined Buzz and Joanie. While doing so, Sean removed the cloak covering "Beast" and revealed the tall, dark figure to be nothing more than a collection of bulky knight armor stacked atop of each other, giving the allusion of the Beast. It was a perfect diversion, especially considering the notion that Gaston had never gotten a good look at the Beast and thus was not sure what to expect when he attacked him. And what a great attack it was, seeing the long, piercing arrow that the huntsman fired sticking out from one piece of armor.

"I'm glad that I talked myself out of being the diversion!" Sean exclaimed while gazing upon the arrow.

Soon Kermit, Robin, Pepe, and Rizzo stepped out from behind the tapestries in the room and regrouped with the others. Kermit, looking down at the unconscious Gaston, seemed a little worried for the huntsman. "What're we gonna do with him?"

"Let's throw him over the balcony." Ciciley suggested, only getting her an aggravated look from Joanie. "What? That's how he went out in the movie!"

"We are _not_ throwin' anybody off any balconies." Joanie sternly declared.

Buzz tampered a bit with his laser function. "I can recalibrate my laser to disintegrate his body, molecule-by-molecule."

Robin cringed at the idea. "Eww! That sounds disgusting!"

"Disgusting but effective, little frog-boy." Buzz clarified.

Joanie shook her head and waved her hands negatively. "Look, we are _not_ going to end this man's life in _any_ way! We are not killers!"

"Disintegration is a very painless form of extermination." Buzz indicated. "He won't feel a…"

"Can it, Lightyear!" Joanie snapped.

Sean tried to think hard over an idea, but he could find none that would deem suitable or humane to the unconscious huntsman lying in front of them. "Well, we can't just leave him here or else he wo—"

Out of nowhere, an intense buzzing sound overwhelmed his hearing and he found himself covering his ears. Joanie, Ciciley, Buzz, and the Muppets were covering theirs as well, hearing the same intense sound. Yelling over it, Kermit asked no one in particular, "What the heck is _that_?"

Joanie was the only one who recognized the sound, as well as its meaning. "It's Bunsen and Beaker! They must've finally found us!"

"How can ya tell?" Rizzo exclaimed through the agony.

"Because I've already experienced this! Next thing that'll happen is the bright light shining over us!" And, just as she pointed it out, the bright golden light shined over them, just as it had before to Joanie, growing in intensity with each second. "Then comes the weird tingling sensation!" It happened right as she said it – all of them felt their bodies tingling all over, like as if something was tickling them from inside.

Even Robin found the sensation overwhelmingly joyful. "Ha, ha, ha! It _does_ feel weird!"

"What's next? We turn into goo?" Sean sarcastically inquired.

"Err…something like that." Joanie said before indicating his hands.

Sean stared at them in total shock as they began to vanish along with the rest of his body, molecule-by-molecule. The same happened to everyone else, as all of them were disappearing from the Disney World. The last thing either of them saw before the overhead light completely obscured their vision in gold was Gaston's unconscious form still lying on the floor. While they were leaving, they hoped that the enchanted items in the castle would find a reasonable method of dealing with him.

**Time Zone – 2010 (After Temporal Displacement)**

Molecularly reemerging back within the same Magic Gateway chamber and without any door to slide open before them, Joanie, Sean, Ciciley, Buzz, and the Muppets stumbled out of the space that quickly became crowded at the moment they appeared inside of it. They all fell to the floor right in front of the worktable that Bunsen and Beaker were standing behind. Upon their arrival, the two Muppet scientists went to them immediately. "Joanie! Are you alright?" Bunsen asked her.

"I'll let you know when you tell me what the heck happened earlier! What was that vortex thing that sucked us in?"

While getting to their feet, Sean, Ciciley, Pepe, and Rizzo looked around in amusement at the fresh, new way that the basement looked. It was a surprise to them, after being in it only minutes ago (at least it _felt_ like minutes) and seeing how old, dusty, and worn-out it appeared. From how it appeared that very second, it almost seemed like everything in the room – and even the room itself – was built just yesterday. It was a sight that greatly confused them, but it was just something a little close to normal for Joanie, Buzz, Kermit, and Robin.

"There was a temporal surge." Bunsen explained. "Somehow, our present came in total contact with the future through the Magic Gateway's computer. I'm not entirely certain how it's done it, but the machine has sent us out of 1977 and into 2010."

Joanie shook her head in disbelief and grinned, turning to her new friends from the future and telling them, "Guess that explains how you all got here."

Beaker meeped frantically to Bunsen.

"Exactly, Beaker. This 'time lapse' is the least of our worries."

"Oh, no," said Kermit with a sense of fear. "What else has gone wrong?"

"A subject from the world you all have just left has escaped." Bunsen revealed. "He's currently running around outside in the real world as we speak!"

Sean and Ciciley exchanged a frightened glance. "This 'subject' wouldn't happen to be a beast that's as tall as a mountain, would it?" Ciciley asked the Muppet scientist.

"Yes! That's precisely what it is!" Bunsen acknowledged.

"Ohh, boy." Sean uttered, putting the palm of his right hand over his face.

"I sent Scooter, Fozzie, and Gonzo to retrieve him…"

Joanie chuckled nervously. "You did what?"

"How are a gofer, a comedic bear, and a whatever supposed to get a huge beast back here?" Kermit hysterically asked.

"Dat's like sendin' de Hamburgular to de wolves, okay." Pepe stated.

"Well, I _did_ give them a means of subduing the creature." Bunsen indicated.

Again, Joanie shook her head. "Whatever it is, it's not gonna be enough, Bunsen. Three common Muppets like them against a ten-foot-tall monster is practically suicide! They're gonna need our help in getting him back."

"Lemme guess…we're da only crazy saps ta do it, right?" Rizzo asked.

"No problem, Riz. We're packing some serious firepower now." Sean said, while pointing to the gun that Joanie was still holding in her hand.

She was surprised to have seen it there in her hand, forgetting all about it in the midst of the excitement. Frowning upon it, she told Sean in a strict manner, "No. Whatever way Bunsen and Beaker provided for Scooter, Fozzie, and Gonzo has got to be better than _this_." With that being said, she threw the gun down to the floor and waved for everyone to follow her. "C'mon! Let's go find them!"

While Kermit, Robin, Pepe, Rizzo, Buzz, and Ciciley were following Joanie out of the basement, Sean stared at the gun she rejected, lying uselessly on the floor. As much as he refused to think like Gaston, he had to admit that it was the best tool they could use in stopping the wild Beast. But he did not bother touching it, seeing that he did not want to make things worse with the situation any more than it already was. He only hoped, even as he followed after her, that she had some sort of plan in helping Scooter, Fozzie, and Gonzo subdue the Beast and bring him back to the Theater.


	14. Chapter Thirteen: 2010 After TD

**Chapter Thirteen: Time Zone – 2010 (After Temporal Displacement)**

_It's the time of your life  
you don't want him to stop  
on right here and now!_

_There's so many reasons why  
you don't wanna stop  
it's your chance, live it up!_

_And everything you do  
celebrate you!_

The upbeat music rang through the speakers built into each of the floats that resembled giant gift-wrapped packages and passed through Main Street, U.S.A., carrying various Disney stars upon them, from Woody and Jessie of _Toy Story_ to Genie of _Aladdin_ and Sebastian of _The Little Mermaid_. It was known as the "Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! Street Party," an interactive show in the_ Magic Kingdom_ theme park filled with music, dancing, and surprises held in front of Cinderella's Castle. They had just finished performing there and were in the process of heading "backstage" when Scooter, Gonzo, and Fozzie arrived in the park, sneaking past the gate through nearby foliage and avoiding the ridiculously high admission prices. As many times as the three Muppets been to _The Magic Kingdom_, the scene they were met with was heavily different to them.

"When did they add all of _this_?" Gonzo exclaimed, observing the entire scene with Scooter and Fozzie from the heart of Main Street.

Fozzie concurred with Gonzo's puzzlement. "Yeah, where are Mickey, Donald, and Goofy?"

"I don't know, but we have more important things to focus on, like finding that beast!" Scooter reminded them, holding the "Mind Control Spray" canister up high. "When we find him, we'll spray this stuff right into his face and take him back to the Theater with us."

"How're we supposed to find a big, hairy beast in _The Magic Kingdom_, Scooter?" Fozzie inquired.

Suddenly the three Muppets were greeted with surprise, when a man wearing a "Goofy Hat" approached out of nowhere, accompanied by his two children (a boy dressed as a pirate and a girl dressed as a princess). He tapped Gonzo on the shoulder and asked, "Excuse me. Would it be okay if my kids and I got a photo with you guys? We are _huge_ fans!"

Scooter wanted to tell the man that it was not the right time, but Gonzo and Fozzie seemed too ecstatic to turn him down. "Why, sure! We're always happy to please our fans!" Gonzo said on their behalf, right before he and Fozzie started posing with the children. Scooter just stood by and watched, shaking his head.

That was when the gofer heard a familiar voice calling out to him from the distance. "Scooter! Scooter!" He immediately turned his head and spotted Joanie stepping out from underneath a stone archway with Kermit, Robin, and a few other unfamiliar characters, including the crazy spaceman he met earlier. Needless to say, Scooter was very delighted in seeing them there, meaning that they had more help in finding and obtaining the escaped beast.

However, Scooter was not the only one happy to see them, as several tourists took notice of the sudden appearance by Kermit the Frog and Buzz Lightyear and began crowding around both of them. Buzz grinned at all of the public attention he was getting from the adults and children in the weird hats, glasses, and costumes. Each of them seemed to have known his name, as well as Kermit's, and it made him feel somewhat giddy – although he was not absolutely certain why. Turning to Kermit, he said, "My reputation certainly seems to get around on this planet. These humanoids worship me as much as they do you, little frogman. Are you their official leader?"

"Er…yeah…you could say that," answered Kermit, as he took an autograph book from a kid and signed his name.

Pepe and Rizzo shook their heads at the lack of attention they seemed to be getting from the greatly enthusiastic crowd. "Well, what're we? Chopped livah?" Rizzo muttered in anger.

"No one respects de new remix, okay." Pepe added in his own frustration.

Ignoring the crowd, Joanie walked away from them with Sean, Ciciley, Robin, Pepe, and Rizzo at her side, approaching Scooter. As she approached, the gofer expressed his surprise in seeing her there. "What happened to you? We thought you were gone forever." He then noticed the two young humans and the two unknown Muppets accompanying her and asked, "And who are they?"

"They're friends I met on the other side from this time." Joanie said.

Scooter got caught on the last two words in her statement. "_This time_?"

Joanie seemed a little surprised from his confusion. "Didn't Bunsen tell you? We've been sent to the year 2010."

The gofer did a double take. "Say what?"

"Hey, Scooter!" The voice of Gonzo snapped him out of the state of shock he was put into upon hearing the revelation, and he looked to see the weirdo and Fozzie standing next to the beast…or at least a _tamer_ version of him in the form of a costumed character. Gonzo and Fozzie had him by the paws, appearing to be holding him down while the character just looked on in confusion. "We got him, Scooter!"

"Yeah, spray him just like you planned!" Fozzie excitedly added.

Watching the two "brave" Muppets take on the "beast," Scooter again shook his head in despair. He could hear Pepe behind him as he had done so, telling him, "Dis is why jou have us here."

_RRRRAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHH!_

The roar echoed throughout the every section of the theme park and, for the first time ever, every living soul stopped, stood, and fell silent. Not a sound was made anywhere – save for some thrill rides that were still in motion. Another roar followed and everyone realized that it was coming from the top of Cinderella's Castle. All heads turned in the direction of the majestic icon of the park and a collection of gasps were a better expression than the mixed reaction amongst the park guests, as they saw a _beastly_ figure crawling around the roof of the castle, looking like a reminiscent of King Kong. It was the same _beastly_ creature that Joanie and her friends were currently seeking after.

Joanie quickly turned her attention to Buzz, who was still surrounded by his "adoring fans" that were also enthralled by the _beastly_ creature atop of Cinderella's Castle. "Buzz! Time to bust a groove!"

Buzz seemed a little perplexed from her strange command. "I beg your pardon?"

Joanie rolled her eyes and clarified her words to the space ranger. "Get to the top of that castle and take care of the beast!"

"Spray him with _this_!" Scooter added while tossing the "Mind Control Spray" canister over to him.

Buzz flawlessly caught the item and held it firmly in his right hand before directing his attention to the people around him. "Stand back, everyone. You don't want to be in the way when my boosters go off." After Kermit and the tourists acknowledged his order and gave him plenty of space, he looked to the heavens and activated the wings to his suit. A loud hum came from within it as streams of white smoke poured out fast and heavy from the bottom of the wings. It was a sight that Ciciley, Kermit, Robin, and Pepe all recognized during their visit into the _Beauty and the Beast_ realm. All that was missing was the space ranger's iconic "battle cry," which soon followed afterward once he exclaimed, "_To infinity and beyond!_"

The space ranger then took to the sky, soaring high above Main Street, U.S.A. and heading straight for Cinderella's Castle. It was a sight that made several park attendees pull out their brochures, check their watches for the time, and look for whatever new show this was that _Walt Disney World_ sprouted out of nowhere. In the meantime, Sean wondered if Buzz Lightyear could even still stand a chance against the mighty beast. He knew that the space ranger would need all of their help to tame him.

It was that moment when he was reminded of an alternative way through the castle, which he quickly shared with Joanie. "There's another way to get up there, but to do it, we'll have to be _real_ sneaky."

"How do ya think Gonzo, Fozzie, and I were able to get in?" Scooter inquired.

The gofer made that inquiry at the exact moment he heard Fozzie complimenting the _other_ "beast." "Wow, your fur is so smooth and soft! Where do you go to get your grooming handled?"

Scooter cringed and told Sean with a sense of desolation, "Forget I said anything."

* * *

A large crowd of riders exited out of the Fantasyland 3-D attraction known as "Mickey's PhilharMagic," dispensing their 3-D glasses. Amongst them were Kimberly and Meagan Thomas, the latter of whom did not seem to enjoy the attraction that much. She wiped her blue eyes and blinked repeatedly before expressing her dissatisfaction into words. "Okay, now I remember why I hate 3-D rides so much. They are serious murder to the eyes, dude. Aw, man!"

Ignoring Meagan's complaints, Kim pulled out the park map from her purse and glanced over the detailed layout of the _Magic Kingdom_ theme park. "Where to next? Bobo and Clifford are at Tomorrowland, which is too far of a walk. Tracy's over in Liberty Square, so I guess we'll head in that direction."

"_Haunted Mansion_ for the fiftieth time today?" Meagan said with a grin.

"You know it!" Kim exclaimed, sharing a high-five with her sister.

Before the two girls could start moving, a tall blonde woman in her mid-forties rushed up to them, coming from the direction that they were only seconds from moving into. "Hey, hey! I'm glad that I found you two!"

Kim and Meagan both seemed surprised from her sudden appearance. "Tracy…we were just about to catch up with you." Kimberly remarked.

"And I'm glad you didn't, because the grooviest show is happening right now at Cinderella's Castle!" Tracy informed.

Meagan scoffed her cousin's words. "What is it? Story time with the Disney Princesses?"

Tracy grinned at the disbelieving Meagan. "Not exactly."

* * *

_RRRRAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHH!_

The ferocious beast clung onto one of the towers of Cinderella's Castle, roaring to the heavens. He was angry because he was confused of all that was happening around him. No longer was he within the safe haven that was his own castle. The particular one he was roaring over greatly resembled it, but at the moment he realized that it was not his castle, he grew angrier. Neither did it help that several people standing around the castle were staring at him in amusement.

_Come to see the monster, have you? Well, go on…TAKE A LOOK!_

_RRRRAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHH!_

This roar came much fiercer than the last, forcing some of the audience of observing tourists to stand back a little.

"That'll be enough for today, hairy creature!"

Coming out of nowhere, the voice completely took the beast by surprise, as he searched all around for it, until his eyes locked with a very peculiar figure that stood atop a tower across from the one that the beast was clinging to. The figure put on a heroic pose while glaring at the beast. More than before was the beast confused, and because he was so, he grew more ferocious and angry. He roared a question to the unusual visitor, "Who are you?"

"I am Buzz Lightyear of Star Command! And you are committing a Code 17 – disturbing the peace! Now if you just come quietly, I won't be forced to…"

_RRRRAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHH!_

Without warning, the beast suddenly charged at the space ranger, leaping off from the tower and soaring over to the one Buzz was on. However, Buzz proved to be much faster than the beast anticipated, jumping out of harm's way just in time and executing a perfect somersault before landing onto another rooftop. The beast clasped onto the adjacent tower, inadvertently causing its lower half to crack under his extreme weight. Unbeknownst to the two characters, portions of the castle were not exactly made out of _real_ stone as they believed it to have been, leaving their confrontation to take a dangerous turn at any moment.

Buzz aimed his laser at the head of the beast and warned, "Don't make me use this, creature." He then indicated the canister that he was still holding and added, "Because I _really_ want to use _this_…whatever it is."

"You will not be using _anything_ on me!" The beast declared, before lunged at the space ranger again with another fierce roar.


	15. Chapter Fourteen: 2010 After TD

**Chapter Fourteen: Time Zone – 2010 (After Temporal Displacement)**

An elevator leading to the special "Castle Suite" of Cinderella's Castle dinged once its passengers – Joanie, Ciciley, Sean, Kermit, Robin, Gonzo, Fozzie, Scooter, Robin, Pepe, and Rizzo – arrived at the one area of the castle that was exclusive to certain visitors of the _Walt Disney World Resort_. From the moment Joanie and the others stepped inside of it, all of them were immediately impressed of how majestic it looked. For Joanie, Kermit, Robin, Scooter, Gonzo, and Fozzie, it was nothing like they had ever seen before; for Sean, Ciciley, Pepe, and Rizzo, it was something they seen before on television, but never in person. Each of them completely forgot why they were there in the first place.

"Wow! How groovy is _this_?" Joanie excitedly exclaimed.

"Yeah, never expected the inside of Cinderella's Castle to look so…roomy." Fozzie commented while feeling how soft one of the suite beds was.

"They only allow winners of the _Year of a Million Dreams_ sweepstakes to spend some nights here." Ciciley informed. "We're lucky enough that a family hasn't already won this suite by now."

_BOOM! THUMP! THUMP! BLIZZZZ!_

_RRRRAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHH!_

The group nearly jumped out of their skins when they heard the skirmish between Buzz Lightyear and the Beast that was happening on the rooftop of the castle. "We need to get up there and help Buzz, before Beast shreds him apart!" Sean declared.

"How're we going to get up there?" Kermit asked. "All of the windows in this place don't open. And it isn't like we could…"

_SMASH!_

The sound of glass shattering terrified them more than the sound of the Beast roaring. It especially brought an unsettling feel over Sean and Ciciley, who were uneasy already over just being there without official permission. Turning their heads slowly, they saw Joanie standing beside one of the stained glass windows of the suite, which had been busted open from a chair that she used. She cleared out the pieces of glass scattered over the lower frame of the window with the legs of the chair, before sitting the piece of furniture back down and sticking her head outside.

Seeing what she had done, Ciciley whispered to her brother, "Is she insane?"

Sean simply shrugged and remarked, "She _is_ our mother."

From Joanie's perspective, she could make out part of the rooftop that Buzz and the Beast were fighting upon, noticing flashes of red light (Buzz's laser). She also realized that chunks of a tower were falling over the side of the castle and down to the moat below. Feeling more urgent than ever, Joanie brought her head back into the suite and focused on her companions. "Y'all stay here. I'm going up there by myself."

"No way, Mam…Joanie!" Sean confronted, barely catching himself before he made a slip-of-the-tongue while addressing his past-day mother. "We're not going to let you risk your life like this. That is a _real_ beast up there!"

"Look, it'd be much riskier for us to all go up there." Joanie stated. "If something happens to me, one of you can step up next to help Buzz bring this thing down." She then turned back to the window she busted open, noting the very slim frame it had and adding, "I might _do_ need help in gettin' my big butt through this window."

* * *

"Two corn dogs, five pizzas, seven funnel cakes, nine hamburgers, and one strawberry-chocolate sundae." Clifford had an actual list of things written on a notepad of all the different foods Bobo had eaten from Tomorrowland to Fantasyland, going through everything on it while walking out of the "Mrs. Potts Cupboard" restaurant with Bean Bunny and Bobo himself. "Man, is there anything you _can't_ eat?"

Bobo looked around briefly and noticed a half-finished cup of lemonade sitting on top of a nearby trash can. "I won't eat that lemonade over there. Drink it, maybe; but not eat it."

While Clifford and Bobo were having their conversation, Bean noticed many park guests stopping in their activities and observing something over Cinderella's Castle. He spotted two teenage girls (one a brunette, the other a blonde) in particular with camera-phones snapping away and capturing footage of something that he could not see from where he was standing, due to the buildings obscuring the castle. Politely, he asked the two girls, "Excuse me, but…um…what's everyone looking at?"

"Not really sure." The blonde girl answered.

"But Buzz Lightyear and the Beast from _Beauty and the Beast_ are involved and putting on what heck of a show!" The brunette girl said.

The blonde then handed her camera-phone over to Bean, revealing to him a perfect, high-resolution shot of the two characters combating one another. It looked like something off the park brochure, similar to the climatic image of Mickey Mouse fighting Maleficent from the _Fantasmic_ show in _Disney's Hollywood Studios_. Everything about it looked really fun to Bean, including how authentic and strangely realistic the costumes looked on Buzz Lightyear and the Beast. However, one thing in the photo startled the Muppet bunny and that was the young woman coming out of Cinderella's Castle through one of the windows. To Bean, she bore a heavy resemblance to a young Joan Thomas.

"Oh, boy!" Bean remarked in shock. He then turned to Bobo (who started sipping the lemonade he found) and Clifford, frantically shouting to them, "We gotta find Kim, Meagan, and Miss Tracy!"

"Whoa! Chill, Beanie!" Clifford remarked. "What's the emergency?"

Unfortunately, Clifford was not given a direct answer from the bunny, as he was already heading across the Fantasyland area to find the three women. Clifford chased after him, while Bobo took a few more sips of the lemonade and threw it away into the very same trashcan he took it from. After a quick belch, the bear asked Clifford and Bean while following them, "Hey, uh, where we goin', fellas?"

* * *

As she scaled the wall of the castle, Joanie did her best not to look down at the incredible height distance from the section of the castle she was clinging to and the moat below. The view was breathtaking to say the least, especially from the suite she departed from. A sense of guilt plagued her conscious while thinking of the beautiful stained glass window that she shattered a while ago. The best she could do to make up for it was to have the theme park bill her – she was certain her salary from the Muppet Theater would be enough…that was depending on the cost of stained glass windows of the year 2010.

Joanie finally reached a balcony at the east side of the castle, which the suite adjoined, climbing onto it and taking a deep breath. Then, out of nowhere, there came a _thud_ above the balcony and Joanie looked up to see that it was Buzz, seeming to be worn out from his fight with the Beast. "Buzz! Don't worry! I'm here to help ya, man!"

Buzz chuckled weakly at her words. "Fear not, young female humanoid! I have this creature right where I…"

_RRRRAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHH!_

The space ranger turned his head to see the Beast lunging directly at him with both claws held up high. Buzz dodged out of the way once the Beast's claws swung and connected with the structure of the castle, tearing it to pieces. Bits of debris showered over Joanie, who kept her head down until all of it had passed. She then heard metal clanging over stone and turned to find the Mind Control Spray canister near her.

"Uh-oh." She uttered, realizing the only thing able to stop the Beast was out of the hands of Buzz Lightyear.

Of course, that was the reason she braved herself to climb up and assist the space ranger. Reaching for the canister and picking it up, she stuffed it into her right pocket and climbed to the rooftop of the castle. A worn-out Buzz Lightyear continued his fight with the ferocious monster, climbing to the top of the same tower that was beginning to crumble under his weight. With Buzz on it, the crumbling came only slightly; but with the Beast itself climbing on, the tower teetered further to the edge.

"I wish to be left alone!" The Beast growled to the space ranger he was slowly advancing on. "I wish to return to _my_ castle!" Buzz kept his laser fixed on the Beast – his only defense against him, after all others had failed – as the monster finally reached the top of the tower. "I wish…"

"Buzz!" Joanie yelled, bringing the two combatants' attention over to her, as she took the canister out of her pocket and shouted, "SHOOT!"

With that command, she hurled the canister towards the space ranger, who figured out immediately what her plan was. Aiming his laser at the canister, Buzz fired a single blast and scored a direct hit. The canister exploded into a ball of green smoke that Buzz's helmet protected his sinuses from. Joanie was left to cup her hand over her noise and mouth from the cloud of smoke that fogged the entire rooftop of the castle. While it was spreading, the Beast inhaled a good deal of it and became very light-headed, losing focus quickly. Then, without warning, the furry behemoth collapsed over the top structure of the tower.

That was the final gesture to cause the entire tower to snap away from the castle and fall to the moat below. However, before it had completely done so, Buzz immediately grabbed the Beast's heavy form and jumped off the falling tower with him, landing right near Joanie. The both of them watched the tower disappear over the edge of the rooftop, falling to the moat with the huge splash that caught some of the viewers watching from a close distance around the castle. Of course, they were far from upset about getting wetter than they would have on Splash Mountain. In fact, they cheered wildly along with everyone else who watched the great "show" atop the castle.

The green haze fogging around the castle rooftop soon dissipated, allowing Joanie to breath in the fresh air. She watched Buzz set the Beast upright; the monster's feet appeared to have been cooperating with the rest of its body, since he was able to stand entirely on his own. The Beast had a dull look upon its face, seeming to be only half conscious at the moment. Buzz waved his hand in front of his face, and the Beast failed to respond to it.

"I believe whatever the contents of that device were put this creature into a near-comatose state." Buzz indicated. "Did our plan work?"

Joanie was not certain if it did or not. To make sure, she commanded the Beast, "Hop on one leg." And sure enough, the Beast held up one leg and began hopping up and down on the other, keeping the expressionless look on his face while doing so. "Yep…I'll say it worked."

* * *

All of the park guests who were watching the exciting "show" that was unfolded on the rooftop of Cinderella's Castle applauded after the action was over and the characters, including the "unknown brunette" who finished it off with Buzz Lightyear, disappeared from the rooftop. Everyone then continued their day at _The Magic Kingdom_, either going on more rides, purchasing items from stores, or attending meet-and-greets with characters. However, most were still ecstatic over the show they witnessed and asked park employees several questions about it. Unfortunately, even the park employees were too stumped to give reasonable answers other than "I don't know."

One young woman named Jennifer (those closest to her called her "Bella") remained where she stood even after the show was over, gazing upon Cinderella's Castle with her green eyes in total disbelief. She was a blond woman who looked to be in her early-thirties with a long-sleeved light blue shirt, blue jeans, and white tennis shoes. Her appearance seemed much more majestic than any of the Disney Princesses seen at the theme park, and she was often confused for one by many children who passed by her there. It brought a smile upon her face when she was approached on it, and she felt bad in disappointing them when she revealed the true fact that she was just an ordinary woman visiting the park on her own. Of course, what she had just seen was far from ordinary.

All of the sudden, she felt something brush against her leg and looked down to see an adorable bunny accidentally bump into her. "Oops! Sorry, miss!"

"You're okay, lil' fella." She told the bunny with a smile and chuckle, watching him and two other strange figures run up to three other women who also remained where they were after seeing the bizarre show that happened on Cinderella's Castle.

"Kim! Meagan! Tracy!" The bunny addressed each of them by their proper names. "Did you just see what happened?"

The redhead named Kim scoffed, "Who _didn't_ see it?"

"We caught what happened just as we passed by 'Winnie the Pooh'," said the stranger with sunglasses and multi-colored dreadlocks, who accompanied the bunny. "How the heck could the _Walt Disney Company_ pull off something _that_ impressive? The budget had to be through the roof – no pun intended."

The oldest of the three women, the blonde named Tracy, chuckled at the dreadlocked stranger's comment. "Yeah, no kiddin'."

Bella couldn't help but to listen in on the conversation, being as close as she was to the group. It sounded like simple fascination they were expressing until the youngest of their group – the other redhead named Meagan – exclaimed, "Oh my god! Is that Sean and Ciciley?" She pointed to the castle's archway, seeing the figures familiar to them passing by there and instantly being crowded on by several excited park guests.

Hearing the name of Sean, Bella's ears perked up beneath her long hair, which covered them. She looked to the archway that Meagan pointed to and could see a tall African American male walking with the characters in the show everyone witnessed, along with others who seemed unfamiliar to her. But the one figure – the tall African American male – was the one she kept her focus on the entire time he was walking through the archway. Kim, Meagan, Tracy, and their friends soon appeared within her perceptual vision, moving to the crowded archway.

Her hand moving to her rose-colored lips in shock, Bella whispered to herself, "Could it _really_ be him?" Feeling overwhelmed, her reaction seemed to have corresponded with a small red glow emitted beneath her shirt, right where her heart was.


	16. Chapter Fifteen: 2010 After TD

_**NOTICE: I've changed the names of the two new characters introduced in Chapter Twelve to "Joie" and "Gina".**_

**Chapter Fifteen: Time Zone – 2010 (After Temporal Displacement)**

Joanie felt exhausted beyond belief as she helped Sean and Buzz guide the Beast to the front of the park where they tried to make a quiet exit. However, that seemed easier said than done when half of the guests at the park, including reporters who went there as guests at first but quickly went to business after the "show" Joanie and the other put on, asking several questions that they could only answer "I don't know" to. And even once they were through the front gate, the questions _still_ continued. None of the guests seemed to have cared that they just walked out of the park, leaving behind whatever plans they had within the hour.

Meanwhile, Sean did his best to ignore the crowd and get to the nearest transit bus they could take back to the Muppet Theater. The Beast was only large enough to fit in one rather than the Explorer, which he would use to follow them back in. He saw one parked close ahead and picked up the pace, moving a short distance ahead of the others and hoping to get to it before anyone else did. Unfortunately, just when he was near the bus…

"Sean!"

He turned his head to see Kim, Meagan, Tracy, Bobo, Clifford, and Bean running to him, all with looks of concern, amusement, and confusion on their faces. "Oh, no…" he muttered to himself, just before he was met by their party and the one he had recently been with at the same time.

Kim and Meagan's eyes connected with Joanie's at the moment their paths crossed. And, almost on instinct, the two redheads uttered upon seeing her, "Mama?"

Joanie raised an eyebrow. "_Excuse me_?"

Even Tracy was taken aback from the sudden appearance of her cousin – at least that was who she believed it was at first glance. This young woman was younger…_very_ much younger than the woman she met with recently, who still resides in a beautiful Floridian neighborhood across town. She wasn't certain if this woman was someone who _looked_ like Joan in her twenties or…no, that latter alternative was just too crazy to consider. But could it be so?

"Joanie…" Tracy finally brought herself to say, "I-Is that _really_ you, cuz?"

Looking carefully at her, Joanie tried to recognize the woman addressing her. "Have we…met somewhere, Miss…?"

"Tracy. It's me – your cousin…Tracy."

Joanie nearly fainted from the shock of seeing the forty-something woman in front of her, whom – in actuality – was her "little" cousin. The first thought that came to her mind upon seeing her: _Man, time-travel is a trip!_

With the reporters and other guests still surrounding them, Sean knew this meeting had to be taken somewhere private. Too many strangers were around to hear the craziness behind a young woman like Joanie being the mother to two women who were close to her age. It wasn't still part of a show, as they were all led to believe from the moment Buzz and the Beast confronted each other atop of Cinderella's Castle. In fact, he started helping Ciciley, Buzz, Kermit, Robin, Scooter, Gonzo, Fozzie, Rizzo, and Pepe guide the Beast into the transit bus, which sunk a bit under his weight.

The bus driver, watching the creature enter and feeling the bus shift from its extreme weight, immediately ran out of the bus and confronted Sean. "Hey, man! This ain't moving truck! Whatever the park officials told you, you tell them I can't…"

"Listen, here's a hundred." Sean gave the driver the money right away. "Just take this bus outside the resort grounds and into Downtown Orlando, until you get to the old Muppet Theater there. After then, you can continue on with your route."

The driver checked the authenticity of the hundred-dollar bill and grinned at it. "Whatever you say, my friend." And with that, the driver went back into the bus and started the engine.

Sean brought his attention back to the others and assured them, "Look, I'll explain everything when we get back to the theat…" While in mid-sentence, he was suddenly met with the angry finger of Joanie.

"You'd better, dude! I don't know what secrets you're hidin', but we will discuss this _later_!"

A chill went down his spine on his words, which sounded a lot like the scolding she would give him when he was a kid. Shaking his head, he thought to himself, _Man! Time-travel is a trip!_ He watched Joanie got into the transit bus with the others following. It took more promises of things being better explained in due time to get Kim, Meagan, and Tracy in as well, but once they were in, the doors closed and the bus departed from the _Magic Kingdom_ theme park.

After watching it leave, Sean escaped from the crowd of curious reporters and guests by running across the parking lot area, just as another transit bus arrived. It drove right in between him and the crowd and parked there, separating them. Relieved to be free of the chaos, Sean took a deep breath and prepared himself for the chaos that would follow later at the Muppet Theater, when he once again met the angry stare of his _young_ mother. How different she seemed in personality at an age younger than his own compared to the elderly, kind woman he met earlier that morning.

While crossing the parking lot to get to his Explorer parked (ironically) in the "Lumiere" section, he was being watched by two figures from a 2006 Dodge Charger, unbeknownst to him. The two figures were none other than Joie and Gina, the latter expressing great joy in seeing Sean at the parking lot. "Aw, dude! It _is_ him! That's our little bro! How sweet is this?" Joie did not answer, which left Gina to look away from Sean and to her. Instantly, she saw her eye color change from their usual light bluish hue to a darker, redder one. "Oh, no. You're ticked about something." She heard her sister's hands gripping the steering wheel tighter and tighter – almost on the verge of snapping it in half. "JOIE!"

The gripping stopped and Joie relaxed a little – her eyes returning to normal. "I'm sorry…but did you see the way that chick was yelling at him a second ago?"

"Who? The brunette?" Joie nodded. "Yeah, that did irk me a little. Who do you think those people were?"

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out." She turned the key and revved up the Charger's engine, much to the dismay of her sister.

"Oh, c'mon, Joie! We found Sean now – let's just go get him, head back to Baton Rouge, and live happily ever after, okay?"

Joie's eyes turned red again as she looked to Gina. "Are you kiddin' me? They could be the reason why he disappeared last night! I'm not just gonna leave without getting some answers first!"

Gina tried to talk sense in her again, but the Charger had already sped out of the space it was parked in and racing across the lot, moving past other vehicles that honked madly as it passed through. Approaching his car, Sean heard the honking and screeching of tires and looked to see the Charger leave the parking lot in such an unruly manner. He shook his head, thinking _he_ was the only one having a bad day, and climbed into the Explorer. However, right after he put on his seatbelt and just before he turned the key in the ignition…

"Lil' brother!"

Sean screamed insanely when he heard the voice, believing to be the only one in the vehicle, jumping so high that he banged his head on the ceiling. Once he shook off the pain, he looked across to see a young blonde woman sitting in the passenger seat with her arms outstretched and a wide smile on her face. He wasn't certain how hard he bumped his head, but when he looked at her chest, he could've sworn he noticed a dark blue hue glowing through the shirt she wore of a different shade of the same color. It was more than that freaking him out that moment – rather it was the fact that woman somehow had gotten into his car without him knowing.

"L-Listen…whatever y-you want, take it!" Sean exclaimed nervously. "I gave the last bit of money I had to a bus driver earlier, s-so…"

"I don't want money, lil' brother. I just want to give you a hug. I've been worried about yo…"

The woman moved in closer to him and, in the blink of an eye, Sean unbuckled his seatbelt and jumped out of the Explorer. He reached into his pocket to pull out his cell phone and began dialing numbers. While doing so, he told the woman, "Okay, make it easy on yourself. Either get out of the car or I'll have the police come and haul your butt to jail. I'm doing it _right now_, lady!"

Glancing at the phone in his hands, the woman's eyes focused past it and to Sean's chest. She frowned when there was nothing glowing beneath _his_ shirt. "Oh, no. Something's wrong."

Hearing what she said, Sean chuckled in response, "Yeah, ya think so?"

That's when he heard the passenger side door open and the woman climbing out. He watched her move hurriedly away from the Explorer and down the parking lot with tears streaming down her eyes. It was that point when a good deal of guilt rushed through Sean, forcing him to hang up the phone and chase after the young woman. He wasn't exactly sure why he felt so guilty about yelling at her and threatening to call the police on her, but he did.

"Wait a minute. Hold on."

The woman stopped and turned to him with tears continuing to come down her impressive green eyes. He noticed the glowing hue of her chest had changed from dark blue to a light purple. At first Sean believed it to be some kind of jewelry she wore that was an equivalent to a mood ring, but there was clearly no sign of jewelry on her. It spaced him out a bit, but he tried to get past it long enough to figure out what her story was.

"Look…whoever you think I am…I'm not that person." What he was saying didn't seem to be helping out much, because she was on the verge of losing control again. Quickly, he changed the subject and asked, "What's your name?"

She looked down shamefully and answered, "Y-You call me…Bella. You had ever since you were a lil' thing."

Sean sighed – the situation was becoming bizarre each passing second. Bella appeared to have known him well enough to actually believe they had been together since the moment of his birth. He couldn't tell if it was a case of mistaken identity or total delusion from her. Whatever the case, he couldn't leave this young woman feeling so heartbroken and confused all by herself.

Without even thinking twice on it, he asked, "Do you want to talk about it? I'm heading no place in particular." It sounded like a lie, but it was actually the truth. The Muppet Theater he knew wasn't supposed to have existed within his time; but on the inside, it did…somehow, it did. "Maybe you can explain how you know me…and where you come from."

Bella showed half of a smile. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

Sean laughed at that statement. "If you went through all I did today, you'd find that to be quite the understatement."

* * *

As if the afternoon could not have gotten any weirder, Tracy seemed to have added onto that weirdness by touching every inch of Joanie's face, from her forehead to her cheeks, doing everything from rubbing, pinching, and stretching. The weirdest part was how she gave her cousin permission to do it, realizing that it was all just to satisfy her amazement of meeting what Meagan called her "Lil' Mama." Of course, the nickname did not stick for very long, once Joanie immediately demanded to _not_ be addressed by such a ridiculous name and just be called by her real one. After a few more minutes of face-touching, Tracy stopped and just stared at her face.

"Are you sure this isn't some surprise you wanted to spring on us while we were here in Florida?" Tracy asked. "You're not wearin' botox or got facial reconstruction or something? 'Cause if you do, you gotta spill, girlfriend! I could really use…"

"It's _really_ me, Tracy!" Joanie snapped impatiently. "Bunsen Honeydew built a machine that somehow transported Kermit, Robin, Fozzie, Gonzo, Scooter, and myself from 1977 to 2010, as well as trapped my mother into some parallel universe where Disney Animation exists or something. All I wanna do is find where she is, get her back home, and end this nightmare once and for all."

Kimberly snickered. "This sounds a lot like that episode of _The X-Files_ when Mulder ended up in the Bermuda Triangle and…"

"Hey, hey! Don't spoil it!" Pepe said. "I haven't finished watchin' it on JouTube, okay."

Joanie moved her fingers through her long brown hair, fighting off the headache she was experiencing at the moment. Seeing Ciciley sitting across from her and eyeing the Beast, who was sitting at the rear of the bus and still appearing mindless, she inquired, "Why didn't Sean tell me? Why did he hide the fact that I'm your mother? Is he ashamed of me?"

Ciciley shook her head. "No, no…of course not."

"Maybe a little."

"Meagan, _shut up_!" Ciciley said through gritted teeth.

Sinking down in her seat, Joanie folded her arms and sighed in depression. Tracy placed a hand on her shoulder in comfort and told her, "I'm sure he has his reasons for not telling you. Maybe it was to protect the space-time continuum…you know he's a huge fan of _Back to the Future_."

"No, I don't." Joanie remarked. "What is it about?"

Tracy opened her mouth to explain, but stopped upon realization. "You'll find out in another decade."

The topic of her twin brother reminded Ciciley of the fact that he was supposed to be tailing the bus they were on. She turned to Robin and said, "Is Sean still following us, Rob?"

Robin hopped over to the rear of the bus and made one giant leap over the half-conscious Beast, landing atop his furry head, which made the tiny frog think a lot of Sweetums and how he would often let him do the same with him. He looked out the rear window and noticed a variety of new-age vehicles driving behind theirs. Confused, he looked back and asked Ciciley, "What type of car does he drive again?"

"It's a dark blue SUV, sweetie." Ciciley indicated.

Glancing back out the window, Robin spotted one black vehicle driving close behind theirs. He wasn't sure if it was an "SUV" or not (he didn't even know what one actually looked like, since they were non-existent in his time), but he was certain it had to be Sean. With a smile, he told Ciciley, "Yep, he's behind us." And with that, he returned to his seat next to his uncle.

Unfortunately, Robin was wrong. The vehicle he thought was Sean Thomas's Ford Explorer was in actuality the Dodge Charger, driven by Joie, tailing the group. Every mile she and Gina crossed was one that she grew angrier on, her eyes like a wildfire in their red hue. Her intentions for following them were anything but positive, and as soon as they arrived at their destination, trouble will soon follow.


	17. Chapter Sixteen: 2010 Prior ReAnimation

**Chapter Sixteen: Time Zone – 2010 (Prior to Re-Animation)**

The impressive scent that Bella gave off stimulated Sean's nostrils every time he took a whiff of it in the Explorer; it was a strong mixture of strawberries and chocolate. It was enough to make him hungry, which he was certain she had to be from hearing the gurgling noises her stomach made. She might have been a total stranger who made wild assumptions of being his "long lost" sister upon first meeting her. He still could not figure out what made him pick her up from the parking lot or even if she had anyone to take care of her – regardless of which, it was chivalrous thing to do…at least he hoped so.

Located just a few blocks ahead was a _Baskin-Robbins_ store, a perfect place to get something to eat. Although it was important to get back to Joanie and his sisters, the situation he found himself with Bella called for other crucial matters. It was also the ideal spot for calling someone to pick Bella up and take her somewhere to find whatever family or friends she had in the Orlando area. Until she got some help, he would not leave her side.

As soon as they reached the popular ice cream parlor, Sean pulled the Explorer over to the curb and parked directly across from the front entrance. Bella glanced at the B&R building in awe and wonder, turning to Sean with a smile and asking, "What is this beautiful place?"

Sean snickered. "You're kidding! You've never heard of _Baskin-Robbins_? The best ice cream restaurant chain in the world?" Bella shook her head in response, putting Sean in a state of total disbelief. Wherever this woman came from, it was certainly nowhere near Orlando. "Well, you're in for a real treat – literally speaking, of course. My mother used to take me here all the time when I was little."

"_Your_ mother?" Bella reiterated on his statement.

It was pretty noticeable how she made another attempt to convince him of being his sister, which left him sighing with a tad bit of aggravation. "Listen, it's pretty overwhelming having three sisters in my life – two of whom are close to your skin tone – so I hope you understand how difficult it is to believe whether or not if you _are_ my sister, especially with the…er…" He made a gesture towards her glowing chest, which showed the color orange for some strange reason. Doing his best to ignore it, he continued, "Look, I promise we'll get to the bottom of this, as soon as we get something to eat."

Getting out of the Explorer, Sean went to the other side to help Bella out and lead her inside the parlor. The aroma of various ice cream flavors welcomed them. Bella was instantly enchanted with the place, going to the front counter and seeing all of the ice cream flavors in the tubs, as they were scooped out by one of the employees. While her attention was distracted, Sean went to work on contacting the police and sending someone to pick Bella up.

However, just as he was about to dial the numbers 9-1-1…

"For Bella's sake, I wouldn't do that, Sean."

The female voice sounded very unfamiliar to him and, turning to the speaker, the face – although extremely beautiful – was just as much so. Sitting at the table nearest him was a raven-haired, blue-eyed woman with a stunning outfit that matched with her hair color. Her lips were glossed with bright red lipstick, some of which had gotten on the spoon she used to eat her Banana Nut Fudge ice cream. Something about her appearance overwhelmed Sean – it was almost as if he could _sense_ the powerful confidence she carried in her. The weirdest thing of it all was how much she reminded him of Joanie from her facial features.

For what felt like the umpteenth time that day, he asked this woman, "Do I know you?"

The black-haired woman chuckled. "Knew you were going to ask me that."

"Then you can understand my confusion over your knowledge of my name." He glanced over to the distracted Bella and added, "So I'm to assume you sent this woman after me in the parking lot of _Walt Disney World_?"

"In a way…yes."

"Why? I was five seconds away from calling the cops on her for breaking into my car – which I still have no idea how she did."

"And you were another five from doing the same thing, weren't you?"

Sean stood in silence, looking at the phone in his hand, ready to contact the local authorities. Something in him forced his finger to press the "End" key on the digital screen, disconnecting his attempted call. Focusing on the woman, who stared back at him with her sparkling blue eyes, he inquired, "Who are you?"

She smiled and answered, "I'm Brandy…and I'm the one who is going to bring order back into this chaotic time of yours." Brandy gestured to the chair across from her, offering him to sit down. He accepted the offer and continued listening to her with much intent. "Now that we've gotten introductions out of the way, let's get to the main points, such as Bella over there. I take it that you've noticed the glow from her heart."

"Amongst other things, yes."

"The truth is that she's from another dimension – one that is somewhat different from this one. In fact, it's a lot like one of those 'Disney Worlds' that Bunsen Honeydew's invention takes you to."

The overwhelmed Sean shook his head and grinned. "How is it that you know so much about this?"

"Because I'm an inventor myself and built something just like Bunsen's machine – only mine enables anyone to travel further between universes, not limited to just a single one." Brandy looked down at her Banana Nut Fudge as she added, "My invention is also the reason for the time shift you and your family and friends experienced recently also."

Sean blinked twice on this. "So _you're_ the reason I'm seeing my mother how she was thirty-three years ago. How?"

"The frequency between our machines came in full contact with one another, causing a temporal shift between dimensions. It's why Bella and her sister…"

"_She_ has a sister?"

Brandy smiled. "Crazy, huh? She's right outside, keeping an eye on a portable version of my invention."

Sean looked out the window and noticed a vehicle parked in front of his Explorer at the curb. It was a large black van that seemed big enough to hold seven people, depending on the space inside that could have been reserved for seating. Of course, considering what Brandy had told him that very moment, the space was reserved for something _larger_ in nature. He could only imagine what was in there.

"I promise that I'll help set things straight for you and your family, Sean…and in turn, set things right for me and mine also." The last part she said with a hint of guilt in her voice, which interested Sean a little. Of course, instead of focusing on her personal matters, he decided to lend more of a focus on what it was that she kept in that van. Seeing how captivated he was, Brandy got up from the table, leaving her unfinished dessert, and offered to him, "C'mon…let's go. We have a lot of work to do, like finding your grandmother."

After some hesitation, Sean removed himself from the table and allowed Brandy to lead him out of the parlor. As he walked out, he looked back to Bella, who continued her observation of the various ice cream flavors that _Baskin-Robbins_ had to offer. She was clearly going to be okay, especially with confirmation of having someone else with her in Orlando. He still found it unbelievable that she was from another dimension, even from her odd biological "trait."

Sean and Brandy approached the black van, sliding open the door to the rear passenger section to reveal Brandy's equivalent to Bunsen Honeydew's "Magic Gateway" invention. In design, it looked close to a futuristic pipe organ. There were a lot of multi-colored knobs, buttons, and lights built on it and even two LED displays that indicated what their labels read, "Time Zone" and "Realm Zone." The blue display ("Time Zone") currently showed the year 2010 upon it, while the "Realm Zone" was blank. Right below these displays was a keyboard – not the type a regular pipe organ would have but rather one from a computer. It was chrome in its design, adding onto the futuristic look of the device.

Whistling over the impressive machine, Sean uttered, "Bunsen could only _wish_ to have something like this. What do you call it?"

Brandy looked a little sheepish as she responded. "Er…I don't really _name_ my inventions. Doesn't seem too…appropriate."

"Well, you've got to identify it somehow. How else can you…?"

_FLUMP!_

Before Sean even knew it, he found himself clung into by a beautiful blonde wearing a black, unzipped hoodie with a white tank top shown underneath, blue jeans shorts, and black high-heeled boots. She had her arms wrapped around him, giving a hug so tight that he nearly choked. Once she let go, she gazed upon his face with her bright blue eyes, showing off an equally bright smile.

"We've found you! Oh, it's so good to see you, little brother!"

Sean looked to Brandy and pointed to the ecstatic young woman as he inquired, "Bella's sister, I presume?"

"Sean, meet Michelle."

Michelle, looking a little confused, gawked back and forth between Sean and Brandy. "Y-You mean…this isn't him?"

"Sorry, sweetie." Brandy told the young blonde. "We're still searching for him. Don't worry – we'll find him."

As Michelle stared down at the ground in great sadness, Sean could see her heart glowing light purple, much in the same way Bella's did after the same disappointing realization. Knowing this, he quickly told her, "I-If it'll help, you can just pretend I'm your brother." He knew it sounded like a bizarre suggestion, but made up for it by adding, "Since, apparently, I seem like a definite ringer to him, you're welcome to do so."

Michelle's lovely smile returned. "Thank you."

Meanwhile, Brandy was already inside the van, prepping the machine up. "Alright. I've got her all set." Sean joined her inside and crouched down with her beside the large device, just as she handed him a metal headband. "Here, put this on. This is how the machine will be able to keep up with you in the other world."

Sean cautiously put the headband on; the moment he did, he instantly felt its chilled texture, which made him want to take it off again. Watching on, Michelle briefly hopped up and down like a giddy little girl and asked Brandy, "Oh! Can I go with him, Brandy? The last visit was really fun!"

Brandy sighed and answered, "Sure, Michelle. Just try to stay with him while you're in. I need you two together at the same spot if I'm to bring you back." She handed another metal headband over to Michelle, who removed her hood to place it over her head with much glee.

Things were moving so quickly to Sean that he just had to ask some very curious questions. "I don't get it. Are you sending us to one of the 'Disney Worlds'?"

"Just to the one you were in the moment that the temporal shift occurred." Brandy confirmed, while entering some information into the machine's keyboard that brought up the year 1991 on the "Realm Zone" display.

"No, no! I need to go to the world for _Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs_." Sean informed her. "That's where Joanie…I mean my _mother_ said where my grandmother is."

And just as easily as she entered the previous information, Brandy entered some that replaced the year 1991 with 1937. "I hope you're certain about this."

"If he's not, at least we get to meet some cute little miners." Michelle uttered, which triggered some awkward glances from Brandy and Sean. "What?"

Ignoring her comment, Brandy refocused her attention on her machine. "Okay…prepare for re-animation!"

"Wait! Re-what?"

Before Sean could have gotten a full explanation on the unusual term she used, Brandy pressed a button labeled "Execute" on the keyboard and started a bizarre chain of events. The headbands that he and Michelle wore glowed in a bright golden hue, tickling their scalps so much that even Michelle could not stifle a chuckle. If felt so sensational to Sean that he was on the verge of going into a hypnotic state. It was not long before he noticed their bodies starting to vanish beneath twinkling sparks of green and red energy, just as if they were Christmas trees. Within seconds, Sean and Michelle had vanished and Brandy was all to herself in the van, monitoring her machine.


	18. Chapter Seventeen: 1967 Post ReAnimation

**Chapter Seventeen: Realm Zone – 1967 (Post Re-Animation)**

Everything appeared hazy to Sean after the "re-animation" that he and Michelle went through, courtesy of Brandy's invention. The process of moving between dimensions was no different from how it was done from Bunsen Honeydew's version of the same machine. However, there were _some_ side effects, such as disorientation – one thing he had _not_ experienced from Bunsen's machine. It took some time before things eventually started to come into focus and, before he saw it clearly, he realized that he was surrounded by lush trees. Unfortunately, these were not regular _forest_ trees…they were _jungle_ trees.

"Are you alright, lil' brother?"

Michelle walked right up to him as he was lying on the ground, his head still slightly spinning. "Yeah…I'm fine." She tried to help him back to his feet, but he protested, feeling it was not such a good idea in his current state. Instead, he just sat up and took slow, concentrated breaths.

"_Are you two all right there?_"

Sean heard Brandy's voice address them, yet he did not _see_ her anywhere near them. The weirdest thing was how clear it sounded, as if she were actually standing right beside them. "Where are you?" He addressed the unseen Brandy.

"_I'm still back in the other dimension. The headbands that teleported you two have built-in communicators, so I can contact you from the other side. Clever, eh?_"

"Well, that makes _one_ thing!" Sean angrily exclaimed. "You sent us to the wrong place!"

"_What? That's impossible – I double-checked my input status and the 'Realm Zone' reads 1937._"

"Well, check again, because from what I'm seeing, this is not _Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs_. It looks more like…_The Jungle Book_!"

"_Oh, no. The frequency on the machine must still be off. Don't worry – I'll have it fix in no time. You two just hang loose._"

Sean heard a click sound before everything went quiet again, at least until Michelle spoke up. "_The Jungle Book_? Isn't there a tiger in this one?"

Fear suddenly crept up on Sean upon the reminder Michelle had given him. "Um…yes…Shere Khan…also known as the 'resident villain' of this story."

"Oh." Michelle uttered, sounding worried herself. "What should we do?"

"Stick together. The last thing we need is for one of us to…"

"Hello!"

Sean and Michelle jumped in total surprise as an Indian python named Kaa dropped down from above and dangled his head directly in front of them. The moment he appeared Sean knew they were in trouble, being aware of the villainous nature of this particular character.

"Stay back!"

"S-s-stay back?" Kaa repeated his command with his slithering tongue. "Oh, no, no, no. I as-s-s-sure you that I'm just a s-s-simple, harmless snake."

Sean expressed doubt upon his face. "Yeah, sure."

"I'm certain my reputation as a species fails me, but you must understand that I'm s-s-simply just a pas-s-sing observer." Kaa stated. "You see, I just recently came across this little man-cub – the first one I've ever seen up close – and now I see two beings just like him…or at least _somewhat_ like him." As the snake made his comments, he circled around Sean and Michelle, almost seeming to be _observing_ them. "Peculiarly dres-s-sed ones, too…definitely _un_like the man-cub."

Sean motioned for Michelle to start moving away from Kaa, fearing the worse was about to happen. He also refrained from making eye contact with him during the entire interaction. "Well, you are _very_ observant. Now if you'll excuse us, we have to…" He pulled Michelle's arm as a way of urging her to move with him, but she suddenly went rigid under his grasp.

Looking back, he was shocked to discover that Michelle had fallen under Kaa's hypnotic gaze. Her wonderful blue eyes became a swirl of various colors in the same way that Kaa's did, revealing the connection of the trance. She hardly even noticed how he opened his mouth completely wide over her head, gearing up to devour her whole. It was clear that Michelle would be the greatest "meal" he ever had from the crazed look of hungry on his face.

With a quick and heavy jolt, Sean was able to move Michelle out of Kaa's path in time to avoid his head, as it lunged downward and smacked into the ground. The rest of his body, coiled in the tree branches above, fell and piled over his stunned noggin. Underneath the pile, Kaa muttered, "Where do I go so wrong with my consumption of man?"

Sean ran from Kaa, leading Michelle by the hand in their escape. Unfortunately, Michelle was still under a hypnotic state and practically dragging her feet across the ground, slowing down their getaway. Making a quick decision, Sean lifted her off her feet and carried her on the rest of the way. He was not certain where he was going, but he hoped Brandy would get her machine fixed before any other _characters_ crossed their paths.

After a short time, Sean heard what could have only been a river nearby – the perfect spot to take a breather, as well as bring Michelle back to her senses. Carrying her over to the edge, he laid her near the beautiful clear, flowing water and cupped his hands to collect enough water to gently splash Michelle's face with. Once he brought it over her, he let a few drops rapidly hit her forehead, cheeks, and lips while being careful not to let any fall past her nostrils. A few more drops of water and Michelle started to snap out of her trance, her eyes blinking twice before returning to their usual color.

Tossing aside the remaining water in his hands, Sean helped Michelle sit up to clear her head. "Are you okay?" He asked her.

Michelle carefully nodded. "I think so. What happened?"

"You were ten seconds away from being snake food – that's what happened."

Michelle's memory started to kick in and recalled the last thing she had seen being Kaa before she blacked out. Gratefully she reached over towards Sean and gave him a big hug. "Oh, thank you for saving my life, lil' brother!"

He still felt somewhat restrained to return her embrace. It has only been under an hour since they first met – at least from _his _perspective. To her, they have known each other since childhood. Of course, that did not exactly mean he would have no respect for her well being. Saving her from Kaa was important to him because she was still a human being…a very _rare_ type of human being, but a human being nonetheless.

In response to her gratitude, he smiled and said, "You're wel…"

"Oh, look!"

She quickly let go of him and got on her feet, apparently recovering from the hypnotism much sooner than expected. He noticed how she was staring out to the river and followed her gaze. Something large, furry, and gray was floating across the surface with a small child lying over its stomach. It was not long before Sean realized it was Baloo and Mowgli, looking very relaxed while enjoying "The Bare Necessities" of life. Michelle smiled at the sight, which seemed more welcoming than what they were first greeted with upon entering the realm.

"Isn't that just the sweetest little thing?" Michelle said.

Sean nodded and grinned for a moment. _The Jungle Book_ certainly was one of his favorite Disney films – the music, the story, and the overall theme of the movie were what made it so engaging. And from how Michelle appeared to be reacting from it all, he could tell it was her favorite as well. Ever since this madcap journey through the "Disneyverse" began for Sean, the sight of Baloo and Mowgli relaxing over the river put him into a state of repose himself.

Since everything appeared to be steady for the moment, Sean refocused his attention on the giddy Michelle, becoming curious to know more about _her_ story. After a moment in thought, he asked, "What is it like in your world, Michelle?"

Her attention was so focused on Baloo and Mowgli that she almost didn't hear his question. "I'm sorry?"

"Brandy told me that your world is somewhat different from the one I'm from. How so? Other than from the glowing hearts, of course."

Michelle opened her mouth to say something; but before she could have, a pair of hands suddenly reached down from above and snatched her headband completely off her head. Looking up, both she and Sean discovered that a monkey was the culprit. However, it was just _any_ monkey – it was one of King Louie's "followers." He took it the headband and climbed up the nearest tree with it, tossing it up the air repeatedly and catching it with either his hands or feet. The whole time he played with it, Michelle politely asked for it…to no avail whatsoever.

"_Sean! It's Brandy! I've got everything all set! Prepare for reanimation!_"

The sudden update alarmed him, seeing that it came just immediately after he and Michelle ran into yet another problem. Without the headband over her head, there was no way for Michelle to be sent out of the Disney World – that much he remembered from Brandy's brief tutorial. She also could not hear Brandy's alert, being too preoccupied with recovering the headband from the monkey. It was a disaster waiting to happen, and he had to warn Michelle as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, the reanimation sequence had commenced.

Sean still made an attempt to yell out to Michelle, but his voice was drawing a blank. Looking at his hands, he noticed how his body was vanishing from existence within that world. Michelle, her focus remaining on the monkey with her headband, had her back facing him. He ran to her to try and get her to see what was happening; unfortunately, by the time he reached her, he was gone.

After some time, Michelle gave up _asking_ the monkey to return her headband, so she resorted to getting some assistance. "This little fella is persistent. Sean, could you maybe distr…?" When she turned to where he was standing, no one was there – much to her immediate surprise. Ceasing her attention on the monkey and headband, she wandered through the area and searched for her missing "brother," calling out his name every few seconds.

Unbeknownst to her, her repeated shouting garnered the interest of a certain tiger whose gaze followed her intently.


	19. Chapter Eighteen: Time Zone  2010

**Chapter Eighteen: Time Zone – 2010**

Joie and Gina's Dodge Charger parked right across the street from The Muppet Theater; the _Walt Disney World_ transit bus was leaving at the time of their arrival with Joanie and the others no longer seen riding it. That could have only meant that the group was _inside_ the theater. With the location discovered, Joie and Gina got out of the Charger and crossed the street to make their way to the theater, both appearing very anxious to discover whom their brother's "friends" were. In the meantime, Gina seemed to have noticed something rather peculiar.

"Hey, have you noticed that Sean hasn't shown up here yet?"

Joie's focus was heavily on the theater entrance; she was too distracted to even notice what her sister pointed out. "He probably made his escape when he had the chance. We'll find him later. Right now, we need to show these people what happens when you mess with family!"

The two dark-haired young women slowly and cautiously entered the building, both taking a defensive stance on their way inside. So far, they were met with no resistance, which was to be expected since none of their "adversaries" knew of their presence. They passed through the foyer, which heavily resembled the inside of a movie theater and went into the empty auditorium. The outside of the theater certainly was not any sort of ruse to mislead them – the building _actually_ was a theater.

However, Joie and Gina were not there for the scenery and continued on with their mission, all the way into the backstage area. Once there, they started to hear voices close nearby. They hid themselves immediately behind a rail of clothes, which they could peek through without being noticed. Just that moment Pepe, Rizzo, Gonzo, and Fozzie appeared in the room with Buzz and Meagan, all guarding the dazed Beast upstairs to the dressing rooms.

"What da heck are we gonna hold dis guy with? I mean he's gotta wake up _sometime_, right?" Rizzo asked.

"I guess the best we can do is just put him in the dressing room and lock the door, so he won't be able to get out." Fozzie said. "Bunsen did say it wouldn't be too long before he got the machine running again and this guy will be out of our hair in no time. Get it? Out of our hair…in _no_ time? Huh? Wocka, wocka!"

"This is no time for levity, my hat-wearing bear friend." Buzz stated. "We need to focus on keeping this creature at bay until the machine is fixed. I'll keep watch of him _inside_ the room."

Meagan was taken by surprise of Buzz's offer. "Are you sure about that, dude? Look at the size of him. He's a heck of a lot bigger than he is in the movie!"

"Have no fear, youthful humanoid." Buzz remarked. "I have faced deadlier creatures across the galaxy."

"No offense to ya, Buzz, but I've watched your cartoon show and I wouldn't call _half_ of those creatures 'deadly'."

The space ranger appeared a little perplexed. "Cartoon…show?"

Meagan stopped at the base of the staircase leading up to the landing, hopping a little as she told her friends, "You guys take care of things without me. I have _seriously_ got to use the bathroom."

"Take your time! Wocka, wocka!" Fozzie jested.

"Yeah, thanks, Fozzie. That one almost made me pee my pants." Meagan replied in total sarcasm.

As the others walked into the middle dressing room with Beast, Meagan started heading out of the room to search for the nearest restroom. When she passed by the clothing rail, she was suddenly stopped dead in her tracks at the moment Joie stepped out and instantly placed her in a headlock. Meagan could barely utter a syllable – more or less breathe – from the powerful hold Joie had on her. She desperately struggled while Joie brought her towards the exit, while Gina kept watch for her friends to avoid detection.

After the three women disappeared from the backstage area, Pepe, Rizzo, Fozzie, and Gonzo walked out of the middle dressing room, leaving Buzz behind with Beast. Fozzie made sure to close and lock the door from the outside, still unsure about leaving Buzz alone with the ferocious monster. Being that he was on orders from the space ranger, he carried them out without complaint or regret. The quartet then headed back downstairs to the basement.

Beaker was putting the final touches on the Magic Gateway chamber door, which he was welding back into place while Bunsen was resetting the data onto the machine. Kimberly, Tracy, Clifford, Bean, and Bobo looked on with great interest at the very device that brought two Disney characters to life in a whole new way, as well as brought old friends and family from the past to the present. Joanie, Kermit, Ciciley, Scooter, and Robin assisted Bunsen and Beaker as much as they could on getting the Gateway back together again. Their progress was met with much succession, which was evident from the smile on Bunsen Honeydew's lime green face.

"Just ten more minutes and we shall be back to getting things in order again." Bunsen stated.

Joanie soon noticed Rizzo, Pepe, Gonzo, and Fozzie entering the basement and asked, "Has Sean gotten back yet?"

"We didn't see him come in." Gonzo answered.

A distraught look crept across Joanie's face. "I don't get it. He was right behind us when we left _Disney World_."

"It's my fault, Joanie." Robin uttered. "I should've double checked to be sure. The vehicles in this time look so identical…I just thought I was sure."

Ciciley gently stroked Robin's back in comfort. "It's no one's fault, sweetie. I'm Sean is just…he's only…Lord, what _is_ he doing?"

"I don't know, but he'd better get here by the time we're doing getting the machine fixed." Joanie said with a hint of frustration in her voice.

As soon after she made her statement, an unusual buzzing noise suddenly emitted from the machine, forcing all of them to cover their ears. It was remarkably loud and quite irritating, but it did not last for very long. Once it had passed, they each uncovered their ears and looked around in confusion. "What de heck was dat, okay?" Pepe inquired.

Before Bunsen could have given some type of answer, everything in the basement began to vibrate under them. It was as if the machine was activating on its own without the authority of Bunsen. His finger was nowhere near the "Execute" button on the keyboard, which left him to wonder what was going on more than the others were. To make matters worse, the buzzing sound that irritated them before had returned, causing everyone to lose concentration immediately.

"WHAT IS IT _NOW_?" Joanie yelled.

* * *

_SLAM!_

Meagan's body smacked hard against the brick wall of the building adjacent to the theater. She had little time to recover from the blow shortly before Joie grabbed her by the neck and lifted her three feet off the ground, her body hugging the very wall she was pinned against. Struggling, she gasped an inquiry to her attacker, "What…do you…want?"

"What I want is for you to tell me what you and your friends did to our brother!" Joie furiously exclaimed. "And you're gonna tell me or else I'm gonna ring your scrawny little neck!"

Gina, who stood by and observed the punishment, had seen enough. "Joie! Put her down! She can't tell us where he is, if you're robbing her of air."

After some hesitation, Joie let Meagan go, letting her body slump to the ground as she fought to get some air back into her lungs. This woman was quite the Amazon compared to her, and she dared not to let her wit get her out of this one. Lifting up one hand in protest, she weakly told Joie and Gina, "Listen, I'll give you _whatever_ you want – just _please_ don't kill me!"

"We don't want to kill _anybody_, kiddo." Gina assured.

"But we'll give a beat-down if he have to." Joie contradicted. "When you mess with _our_ family, ya get hurt, sweetheart!"

Confusion quickly replaced fear on Meagan. "Family? What family are you talkin' about?"

The frustrated Joie suddenly reached out and grabbed Meagan by the collar, bringing her in closer to her face. "Let me lay it out plain and simple to you, little girl – we want our brother, Sean!"

At that moment, complete surprise overtook Meagan on Joie's words. "You've got to be kiddin' me."

She soon realized that was the wrong answer when she watched in shock as Joie's bright blue eyes switch to a deadly red color and the complexion of her face fade from peach to a ghostly white shade. Her lips – laced with red lipstick – morphed into black while her clear, white teeth changed to dark and yellow. In less than a second, the intimidating yet gorgeous young woman transformed into an intimidating and viciously grotesque monster.

"Does it _look_ like I'm kidding?" Her voice was deep and dark, a perfect match with her "new" face.

Meagan could barely speak after witnessing the bizarre transformation. "Uh…nope?"

_VRUUMMM!_

Attention quickly shifted to the theater upon hearing the strange noise. Joie's face returned to its _normal_ form during the distraction, her blue eyes noticing weird activity happening over the building. It quaked to the point that clouds of plaster shot out and surrounded the entire area. Joie, Gina, and Meagan coughed; but they soon found themselves shielded their eyes, as the entire theater started to _glow_. The strange noise continued to reverberate through the air, as the glow over the building grew brighter and brighter.

After nearly a minute, the activity ceased and all became calm and quiet. The theater was still intact, no longer glowing. A perplexed Gina then asked no one in particular, "What just happened?"

Joie immediately turned to Meagan and repeated the question to her in a more aggressive tone. "What happened?"

"The heck if I know! After meeting you two, I have no clue _what_ is going on anymore!" Meagan responded.

"Well, you're goin' in with us to find out." Joie demanded before forcing Meagan back on her feet and into the theater.

The three women went inside and were quickly greeted by Ciciley, who ran out of the basement and appeared very scared and confused. Meagan went to her and asked, "Cici! Sis, are you okay?"

Ciciley gawked at Meagan and shook her head in bewilderment. "Cici? Who is Cici?" Her voice did not sound as it normally did. Instead, it was replaced by the voice of another. "My name is Jasmine…princess and daughter to the sultan of Agrabah."

Upon hearing this, Joie raised an eyebrow and muttered, "Say what?"

Out of nowhere, insane laughter emerged from within the basement and into the backstage area, as Kimberly giddily appeared with a large green top hat upon her head. A label that read "10/6" was sticking out from it, making it an exact duplicate of the one worn by The Mad Hatter in _Alice in Wonderland_. "Oh, my! What on earth happened here?" Not even her voice was the same, as she spoke with the voice of the very character she "represented." "I bet it was that blasted March Hare! He redressed me in my sleep again, didn't he?"

Meagan felt as if her head was about to implode from the weirdness taking place in front of her. Panicked, she cried out, "BUNSEN!" Then she ran to the basement, hoping to find the Muppet scientist and the others there. However, once she took a few steps down the staircase, she started to feel extremely odd.

Bunsen, seeing her enter the room, attempted to make an important warning. "No, Meagan! Don't come down here! It's…"

"It's what? Come on, little man! Speak up! I haven't got all day! Don't waste my time! Do you know who I am? I'm Cruella De Vil!"

The change occurred before Bunsen could have finished his warning. No longer was Meagan Thomas herself. She had completely taken the persona of the villainess from _101 Dalmatians_.

"Well, there _she_ goes." Clifford indicated.

"Yes, it seems, I'm afraid." Bunsen stated. "The metamorphosis seems to occur quickly…and in humans only."

Inside the basement, Kermit, Fozzie, Clifford, Bean, and Beaker were tending to Tracy, who was lying unconscious on the floor. Robin, Gonzo, Pepe, Bobo, Scooter, and Rizzo searched around the room for Joanie, who had vanished without a trance following the bizarre occurrence. Robin searched more feverishly than Gonzo, Rizzo, Bobo, Scooter, and Pepe did, feeling very worried over Joanie's disappearance.

"Wh-Where is she? She was here a second ago! We have to find her! She's gotta be here somewhere…_anywhere_!"

Robin was practically hopping all throughout the room in frantic motion. It took only quick action from Scooter to keep him still. "Robin, try to calm down. I'm sure she's fine. We'll find her."

"But now she _and_ her mother are missing! How are we going to…?"

The tiny frog stopped just as he and the others heard a loud creaking noise from the top of the staircase. Bunsen directly turned to the visitor and warned, "Please don't come in! The machine is radiating high levels of energy that appears to be affecting humans! One more step and you're liable to take on the persona of…well…a Disney character!"

Unfortunately, the creaking continued as Joie and Gina entered the area. Of course, after standing in the room for longer than a few seconds, neither of the two women experienced any unusual effects. Shrugging her shoulders, Joie said, "Seems okay in here to me."

The Muppets were taken by surprise of the appearance of the two women, who were total strangers to them. Kermit inquired to them, "Who are you?"

"We're just two girls looking for our brother." Gina replied. "Is that so much to ask?"

"That and some better clothing, dah-ling." Meagan/Cruella muttered.

Glaring her way, Joie threateningly raised a fist and said, "Say one more word and I'll make you wish you were never born!"

"Do it and I promise you'll be answering to my lawyers – all fifteen of them!" With that said, she went upstairs to the backstage area, joining the other two "characters" who were not exactly feeling like themselves.

Bobo, noticing how immune Joie and Gina were to the radiation, questioned to Bunsen, "Hey, uh, if this energy is supposed to affect humans, then how come these two ladies aren't acting like Disney characters?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Scooter said. "They're _not_ human."

The Muppets stared awkwardly at the two women, who – in turn – stared back to them in the same manner.

Joie smirked. "You guys are the ones to talk."


	20. Chapter Nineteen: TZ 2010 RZ 1989

**Chapter Nineteen: Time Zone – 2010**

"Sean, come in! Michelle, can you hear me? Someone respond…_please_!"

There was no response from the speakers built into the machine. Anxiety grew over Brandy, who flipped switches and knobs repeatedly until a voice came through. She then stopped for a brief moment and stared at her right hand, which felt slightly odd. Rubbing it gently with her other hand, she closed her eyes and thought hard to herself. Unfortunately, her moment of thinking did not last very long before she was interrupted by an approaching voice.

"Brandy! Guess how many different flavors they have here!" Bella exclaimed, gesturing to _Baskin-Robbins_.

"Bella! Please! I'm trying to concentrate here!"

Bella frowned – her heart glowing light purple. "I'm sorry, Brandy."

Brandy looked at the frown she accidentally brought upon her face with her outburst and sighed in despair. "It's not your fault, sweetie. There's just a lot going on right now."

"What's wrong?"

"I've lost contact with both Sean and Michelle, and I have no idea where either of them is."

Bella did not seem too distraught from this news; rather she kept her optimism up much higher than Brandy's could have been. "Well, let's just go in after them."

The surprise on Brandy's face told just how she thought of that idea. "Are you kidding? You have no idea how easy it is to get lost in a universe as big as that one, especially with the machine's frequency out of whack at the moment."

"But didn't you say that you have something to prevent that from happening?"

"You mean _this_?"

Brandy moved to the front of the van and opened the glove compartment, pulling out a large metal wristband that glowed in a rainbow of holographic colors, dependant upon the angle it was held. She placed it right upon her wrist and information identical to what was shown on her machine, such as the Time and Realm Zones, appeared in holographic form on the wristband. Until Bella made reference to it that very moment, she had completely forgotten about it. And the reluctant expression she gave upon looking over it told just how she felt about wearing it.

"The portable backup version of my machine. I never gave it a proper field test. You really think it'll work?"

Bella smiled. "You can't live your life without a bit of faith, Brandy." She picked up one available headband lying nearby and placed it on her head. "Now…where to?"

Brandy shook her head and smiled herself. "I must be outta my mind…but here we go anyway." With that said, she began dialing some information on the wristband, bringing up some information that projected a few inches above the futuristic device. Her blue eyes widen on what she read off the display. "According to the trackers in the headbands, Michelle's still in Realm Zone 1967 while Sean's in…1989?" She stopped and briefly pondered. "That could only mean he's in the world for _The Little Mermaid_!"

Bella's smile grew. "Really? Oh, I love that one!"

"Bella, I'll need you to go and find your sister in the other world. _Please_ keep your headband on at all times. We'll stay connected with each other, so that we won't get lost while we're in." She desolately sighed and added, "Still not too sure about this, but if they're in two different worlds, we'll need two able bodies to be there to find them quickly."

"You can count on me, Brandy. Let's go."

Brandy nodded in affirmation and began dialing some numbers onto the wristband. Not for very long did both Brandy's wristband and Bella's headband glowed, signaling for the re-animation process. Within seconds, the two women vanished entirely from the van. As their forms dispersed, a homeless man crossed the van and witnessed the process as it occurred. He blinked twice and shook his head, continuing on with his business and pretending as if nothing ever happened.

**Realm Zone – 1989**

_BOOM! BOOM! BOOM-BOOM!_

It took Brandy several seconds to maintain a focus on her surroundings, until she finally saw the fireworks exploding high above her in the night sky. If she knew the feeling after re-animation would leave her and other subjects that disorientating, she would fix the machine to avoid the issue right away. All that mattered, of course, was making it to the other side and finding Sean. Once she was completely recovered from the disorientation, she attempted to get to her feet, having arrived lying down for reasons unbeknownst to her. However, a collection of hands suddenly clamped down on her arms and legs, letting her up in a more forcible way.

Brandy was surrounded by a large group of sailors who appeared to have been engaged in celebration until she made her presence known. It was the celebration for the birthday of Prince Eric, who was there himself with his pet sheepdog, Max, and confidant, Grimsby. It was Eric who spoke on Brandy's behalf as the sailors kept restraint upon her. "Whoa, whoa! Guys, take it easy! You act like you've never seen a woman onboard this ship before."

"We've seen women…just not stowaways!" One sailor angrily indicated.

"I-I'm no stowaway, I promise!" Brandy remarked. "In fact, I can be of some help to you all."

All of the men, with the notable exception of Eric, bellowed with laughter from Brandy's claim.

Calming down the sailors by shushing them, Eric asked, "Help us with what? Celebrating a birthday party?" He smiled and then turned to Grimsby. "Grim, did you set this all up, ya old madman?"

Grimsby maintained a gentlemanly posture while addressing the situation. "I assure you, Eric. I had no part in this whatsoever. This young woman is a stowaway, just as these sailors have claimed."

"I say we throw her overboard and let the sharks deal with her!" A sailor boldly suggested.

"No one is throwing anyone overboard." Eric demanded.

One of the sailors keeping grasp over Brandy's arm lifted it up to show the special wristband that she wore. "Look at the strange jewelry she wears! No doubt stolen, I'd say!" The sailor's fingers connected with the surface of the wristband and triggered a holographic readout that shot out of the device and projected remarkably large and wide over the area.

The sailors instantly let go of Brandy at the moment the occurrence took place. Her hands free, Brandy quickly shut off the projection, before some of the older sailors on the ship suffered a massive heart attack. Once it was off, she sheepishly looked to the men and smiled. "Sorry about that."

"She be a witch!" A sailor claimed in fear.

"Throw her overboard!" Another sailor viciously yelled.

The sailors began to advance upon Brandy, backing her into a corner. Eric tried the best he could to bring order to the situation, but no one – including Grimsby – was willing to hear him out. Even Max expressed some distain in Brandy's presence, growling at her amidst the advancing sailors. Just when it seemed as if an unfortunate circumstance was about to break out…

_KURR-KRACK!_

The lightning and thunder appeared suddenly, accompanied by a darkening sky. All focus on Brandy was soon directed to the storm, which rocked the ship violently. Eric and the sailors went to work on keeping the ship together. In the meantime, Brandy fiddled with the wristband, trying to fix the reconfiguration – having been disrupted by the sailor's touch – and escape while she still had the chance. Unfortunately, it proved to be quite a challenge between the rocking of the ship and the pouring rain.

_KURR-BOOM!_

Directly above her, one of the sails was struck by the lightning and set on fire, putting Brandy and the crew in more danger than before. The scene was playing out in front of her just the way it did in the movie, only she was observing it up close and personal. And if memory served her well, the worst was coming…in the form of a very large rock, which was directly in the path of the ship. Brandy tried to warn the crew of it, but she was too late…

_BANG!_

The impact was intense. Everyone, including Brandy, was tossed overboard. Before she even hit the waters, Brandy blacked out from the whiplash she received. The sound of the immense explosion that soon followed was nothing more than a muffled pop to her, as she floated lifelessly across the sea with her face above the surface to support for air.

* * *

"Brandy…Are you okay? Brandy, wake up!"

Feeling more disorientated than she did after re-animation, Brandy slowly opened her eyes to a bright sun and a tall figure standing in front of it, providing enough shade for her weary eyes. Once they were in total focus, she saw it was Sean who was standing beside her on the shore she had washed upon. She sat up carefully with some help from Sean and took deep breaths before saying to him, "Are…Are you okay?"

Sean chuckled at her question. "I should be asking _you_ the same question. You look like you just got your butt kicked by Ursula."

"So you _do_ know where you are." Brandy noted. "Well, now that I've found you, we can get to…" She touched her right wrist – the one she wore the wristband on…or at least she was _supposed_ to. When she touched that wrist, all she felt was her own exposed flesh. Panicked, she immediately got to her feet and patted herself hastily. "Oh, no! No, no, no, no, no, no!"

"What's wrong?" Sean asked in confusion.

"When you found me, did you see a metal wristband on my wrist?"

"No. I found you just the way you are now."

Brandy's hands went to her long black hair, almost ready to tear it out in intense alarm. Her blue eyes were widened with terror, signifying an oncoming mental breakdown. "I knew this would happen! I told Bella it was a bad idea from the start! Now we're _stuck_ here for good!"

The alarm finally reached Sean at that point. "Whoa! Stuck here? What're you…?" He stopped in mid-sentence as soon as he heard a harmonious voice singing a familiar song nearby…

_What would I give to live where you are?_

_What would I pay to stay here beside you?_

_What would I do to see you smiling at me?_

Sean recognized the verses from the song "Part of Your World" as sung by Ariel herself. However, this voice was _not_ the little mermaid's; and yet it was a familiar voice nonetheless. With Brandy following close behind, Sean moved across the beach, approaching a large pile of rocks. Past those rocks was an eerily memorable scene: a redheaded mermaid with a gorgeous, sparkling green tail sitting beside the unconscious Prince Eric while a seagull, a yellow-blue fish, and a stressed-out red crab looked on.

Gazing closely at the scene, Sean and Brandy were shocked once they saw the face of the mermaid. No doubt she was a redhead and a mermaid; but she was _not_ Ariel. After careful examination, Sean and Brandy discovered the face belonging to Joanie Navarro. She sang with her own voice, which was on par with Ariel's, and appearing to be fully in character while singing to the unconscious Eric…

_Where would we walk?_

_Where would we run?_

_If we could stay all day in the sun?_

_Just you and me_

_And I could be_

_Part of your world_


	21. Chapter Twenty: Realm Zones 1967 & 1989

**Chapter Twenty: Realm Zone – 1967**

Bella fought through foliage in the middle sweltering jungle atmosphere to find Michelle. She was practically sweating just a little through her shirt with a heavy yellow glow shining through it. For minutes she had stepped through the jungle, almost stepping in mud at one point. It was almost beginning to seem as if she would never find Michelle, until…

Music…High tempo music.

It sounded so good to Bella that she turned her head in the direction it sounded from, spotting a ruined temple that appeared Hindu in design. The temple was a short distance away from where she currently was, so she went right after it with great curiosity. Thoughts of finding Michelle were still fresh on her mind, but she could not avoid the music. She even bobbed her head back and forth to its rhythm; she did this the entire way there.

When she arrived at the temple, she climbed over a crumbled wall that led her directly through an entranceway into the temple. The moment she walked in, she was met with a welcoming yet surprising sight: her sister, Michelle, dancing with a large collection of monkeys. Draped over her head was a banana peel, which she did not seem to care was on there the entire time she was dancing and singing with the monkeys. She danced in step with the monkey's orangutan leader, King Louie, singing a song that was not of the cartoon that realm was based upon, but more of a _real world_ one.

"_My jungle love, yeah!_" Michelle sang.

The monkeys followed with the chant, "_Oh-e-oh-e-oh!_"

"_I think I wanna know ya!_"

"_Know ya!_"

A few niftier dance steps between Michelle and Louie and then the song came to a close; the monkeys wildly applauded from different sections of the ruined temple. Bella even applauded herself after witnessing the excellent display of entertainment. She soon found herself forced to stop applauding, on the other hand, as she was suddenly grabbed by the back of her jeans and hauled up into the air. The monkeys that surrounded the temple were tossing her one-by-one to King Louie and Michelle, until she was dropped a few feet right in front of the two.

At the moment Bella appeared before her and Louie, a large and wide smile emerged on Michelle's face. She helped her sister to her feet and gave her a huge hug. "My sister! It's so good to see you again!" Both her heart and Bella's glowed dark blue, responding to the great happiness between them.

"It's good to see _you_, my sister. I just wish I didn't have such a _massive_ wedgie at the moment." Bella uttered, gazing behind her to see her purple underwear grotesquely sticking out of the back of her jeans.

King Louie approached Bella, observing her very closely. "Crazy, man! There are _two_ of you now!"

"Your Highness, this is my dear sister." Michelle introduced.

Louie stood on both of his hands and extended one of his feet out to Bella. "Any 'sister' of the woman-bear is a sister of mine!"

As she shook Louie's foot, Bella whispered to Michelle, "Woman-bear?"

"It's like 'man-cub'. Cute, isn't it?" Michelle answered.

"Now, then…let's hear about that fire." Louie told Michelle, immediately getting down to business.

Michelle chuckled and said, "Now, now, Louie…you have to hold up _your_ end of the bargain. First, I give you a swingin' party; then, you give me the headband; and, after that, I tell you about fire."

Louie did not seem too pleased on the deal he was reminded about. "Aww, phooey! Alright, then, woman-bear." He then whistled to one of the monkeys hanging around the temple, playing with the very same headband that Michelle was requesting. When the monkey heard the king whistling to him, he turned his head to him. Louie "scatted" an order to the monkey, signaling him to throw down the object to the king.

The monkey was just about to oblige to King Louie's command, until…

_RAWR!_

A monstrous roar bellowed throughout the ruined temple, bringing total silence over the once overjoyed kingdom. All heads turned to the entrance, where the powerful, sophisticated, and deadly tiger known to all in the jungle as Shere Khan stood, menacing as always. His mere presence brought chaos over the temple, as all of the monkeys scattered, swinging and climbing their way out of the ruined temple. Even King Louie, the fun-loving animal he is, grew heavily serious upon the appearance of Shere Khan, losing his cool very quickly.

"Uh, I-I'll see you woman-bears later! I've gotta split!" Louie exclaimed.

While Louie made haste out of the temple, the monkey that carried Michelle's headband tossed the object aside. Michelle noticed the action and ran to catch the falling headband. Unfortunately, it fell through her grip and rolled across the ground, forcing Michelle to chase after it. As she had done so, she tripped over a rock and fell hard to the ground, her arm outstretched. Thankfully, she was able to get a grip on the headband before it could roll any further from her reach.

Michelle smiled, but it soon faded once she heard deep, sinister purring. Her blue eyes darted upward and met with the fierce glare of Shere Khan. She was so stricken with fear that her grip on the headband began to loosen. As it did, its metal surface angled with the sunlight, creating an intense glare that connected directly with Shere Khan's sight. The tiger was blinded, his left paw going over his eyes, and Michelle saw an opportunity in getting to her feet and escaping the temple with Bella.

"C'mon!" She cried to her sister upon leaving the area.

The two young women ran as fast as they could across the jungle, leaping over foliage and ducking through branches along the way. As they ran, Michelle quickly placed on her headband. "Now what do we do?" Bella asked her.

Michelle then addressed an unseen member of their party. "Brandy! Can you hear me? If you can, you have to get us out of here no—"

Both of them suddenly skid to a halt as they came across a large cliff with what looked to be a fifty-foot drop. They turned to run back the way they came; unfortunately, Shere Khan appeared, having caught up with them. Instead of attacking them at the moment he made his presence, he just slowly and menacingly advanced towards them. "No where else to run," he sneered to the two women.

Michelle and Bella stood and watched helplessly as their end approached.

"You know what would be _really_ pleasant right now, my sister?" Michelle inquired to Bella.

"What's that?" Bella remarked.

"If we were someplace a little less terrifying…like the Hundred Acre Woods."

Bella nodded with a frail smile. "I couldn't agree more."

Shere Khan was only a couple of feet from the two sisters; and, after stopping for a brief moment, he pounced. Michelle and Bella held each other and shut their eyes tight. However, during the entire incident, something quite unexpected – mostly to Shere Khan – occurred. The two women dematerialized from the very spot they stood, disappearing completely before a shocked Shere Khan's eyes. The once-ferocious tiger quickly found himself soaring over the edge of the cliff, screaming in the process.

Fortunately for Khan, he did not fall completely down the fifty-foot drop. Rather, ten feet down, he landed upon a huge branch that was elongated from the wall of the cliff. The branch was strong enough to hold Khan's weight, but that did not make up for the fact that he was a good forty feet above a river that he was not sure was shallow or deep. If there was one thing that terrified the mighty Shere Khan more than fire and man's gun, it was extreme heights. There was no telling how long the tiger would remain on that branch.

**Realm Zone – 1989**

"Ariel!" Sebastian exclaimed. "We must return to Atlantica _immediately_! Your father is probably wonderin' where you are now, child!"

The stressed-out crustacean was addressing the green-tailed, redheaded mermaid sitting upon a large rock and staring out towards a majestic castle that belonged to Prince Eric. Unbeknownst to Sebastian and the other two characters at the scene – a seagull named Scuttle and a fish named Flounder – the young girl before them only a manifestation of the _little mermaid_ known as Ariel. In actuality, she was Joanie Navarro, who mentality believed she was the character herself.

"Ah, give dah kid a break, Sebastian." Scuttle said. "She's in love…with a human…_man_!"

"That is precisely da reason we should get out of here, you idiot!" Sebastian retorted. "Her father's gonna kill dis crab when he finds out about all of dis!"

"He won't find out if we don't tell him, Sebastian." Flounder notified.

"You're right, Flounder. We just gonna forget da whole thing happened. Da Sea-King will never know." Sebastian calmly told Flounder. "_You_ won't tell him. _I_ won't tell him. I will stay in one piece." And not a moment later, the crab frantically told the mermaid, "Now let's get back to the waters, before…"

"JOANIE!"

Ariel's (Joanie's) eyes moved from Prince Eric's castle to the beach where two humans (one male, one female), who had their attention solely focused on her, ran their way. Realizing they have been noticed by the humans, Sebastian lost his cool and shouted, "We've been spotted!" He then jumped back into the water with Flounder following him, while Scuttle took flight to the skies.

Ariel (Joanie) attempted to retreat herself; however, something compelled her to stay on the large rock and watched as the two humans ran across the shallow water, splashing their way to Ariel and not seeming to care how wet their clothes got. Once the male human reached her, he excitedly said to her, "Joanie! Man! Am I ever glad we found you! Are you alright?"

The mermaid gazed closely at the human, appearing rather confused. She had never talked to a human before, yet she felt unusually comfortable talking to this particular one. "My…My name's not Joanie. My name is Ariel."

Both of the humans exchanged a look of bewilderment over her response.

"And…who are you?"

The male human chuckled and answered, "Joanie…it's me…Sean." He swallowed very hard upon adding, "I'm your son, remember?"

Ariel's (Joanie's) eyes grew wide. "My…son?"

The male human called Sean turned to his female companion, still looking very confused. "Brandy, what's up with her?"

Brandy shrugged. "If I could guess, I'd say that she's experiencing some sort of 'dimensional flux' – a process in which a subject from one universe merges with one from another."

"Did _we_ do this?" Sean asked, moving from confusion to caution.

"No, this must be an outside source, possibly a result of Bunsen Honeydew's machine." Brandy answered. "It's rather an impressive phenomenon. Your mother is the first-ever subject to cross-dimensional reanimation. You should be honored."

Sean glanced to Brandy oddly. "Are you kidding me?"

He suddenly felt his short, black, curly hair being touched and quickly turned his head to see Ariel's (Joanie's) hand over it. "You have such beautiful, soft hair," she told him. "Do you use a dinglehopper?"

Sean looked very uneasy from her "observation." "O.K., now this is getting weird, Brandy."

As Brandy watched the exchange, something on Ariel's (Joanie's) wrist soon caught her attention. It shined in a rainbow of colors every time Ariel (Joanie) turned her wrist. Brandy was stunned upon the realization that the object was her wristband. Ariel (Joanie) found it and was wearing it. Of course, she obviously could not just take it from her, since she would claim ownership of it, unless…

"That's a beautiful…uh…_bracelet_ you're wearing, Joani…I mean, Ariel." Brandy told her, and when she brought the object to everyone's attention, Sean was just as surprised to discover it was the wristband.

Ariel (Joanie) smiled to Brandy. "You like it? I found it while saving the life of a _handsome_ human named Eric…and he's a prince!" The object glared in her bright blue eyes as she gazed upon it. "It's so beautiful. I'm planning to see him again tonight and return it to him."

"Awesome." Brandy uttered. "Can I see it for a moment?"

"Certainly." Ariel (Joanie) acknowledged without a single bit of hesitation, much to Brandy's surprise, and handed the wristband right over to her, after removing it from her wrist.

Brandy put on the wristband and immediately pressed her right index finger over its cold metal surface. An array of holographic images then shot out from the device, instantly alarming Ariel (Joanie). Seeing how scared she was, Sean promptly told her, "No, it's okay. Nothing to be scared over. She's just…er…doing her _human_ thing."

"How _is_ she doing it?" Ariel (Joanie) questioned.

Sean shook his head. "I don't rightly know myself, but I promise it won't hurt you. Don't be scared."

"Oh, I'm not scared…just fascinated." The mermaid replied. "I've always wanted to know more about the human world – its treasures, its people, its wonders! So much I want to see; and, now…I'm seeing it all before my very eyes! It's so magical!"

Sean grinned at her; her attitude while taking on the persona of Ariel was strictly the opposite of her normal Joanie Navarro persona. It was somewhat ironic that she even ended up in the predicament that she was currently in, seeing how much she despised being in the world of Disney – only to become one of the characters in one. He almost wished she could stay that way, mostly to avoid the tongue-lashing she would give him for not telling her that she was his mother had she gotten back to normal. Of course, to preserve the timeline, he had to bring her back to her usual self. And when Brandy suddenly made a puzzling request to him, he wondered if she found a way to do that.

"Sean, put your headband on her head."

He did as she requested and took off his headband, placing upon Ariel's (Joanie's). The mermaid gazed upon it as he did so, smiling and saying, "Oh! Is this something you're giving me? Is it a crown?"

Brandy grinned. "Eh…something like that."

She dialed in some holographic numbers projected from the wristband and, before Ariel (Joanie) knew it, she felt a tingling sensation over her head. It made her laugh uncontrollably. "Ha, ha! Hey, this tickles! Ha, ha!"

Watching her, Sean turned to Brandy and asked, "What're you doing?"

"Retracing her brainwaves…they're totally out of sync right now."

Ariel (Joanie) continued laughing from the sensation, but she suddenly began to twinge, holding her head and squinting hard. "Ow! OW! Stop it! It hurts!"

Alarmed, Sean cried, "That's enough, Brandy! Knock it off!"

"The sequence isn't done yet! I have to keep going!"

"No! I said…KNOCK IT OFF!"

Sean grabbed at her wristband, disrupting the activity that Brandy was engaged in. All of the sudden, Ariel's (Joanie's) body faded before their eyes, disappearing completely after merely a few seconds and leaving the headband falling upon the rock she was sitting on. They watched the event occur with total shock; Brandy quickly dialing onto her wristband, while Sean started questioning the whole thing.

"What happened? Where did she go?"

Brandy did not respond.

"Where did she go?"

As soon as some information appeared on the holographic display, Brandy informed him, "Agrabah…she's in the _Aladdin_ realm."


	22. Chapter Twenty One: Realm Zone 1992

**Chapter Twenty-One: Realm Zone – 1992**

A bright sun bore down on Joanie as she awakened from her unconscious state. Slowly, she sat up and looked around to see where she was. Much to her immediate shock, she was in the middle of a barren desert, miles and miles of dunes as far as the eye could see. Panic quickly struck her as she cried out into the windy atmosphere, "Is there anybody out there? Hello!"

Of course, there was no answer.

The situation was becoming far more terrifying than she could have ever imagined; unfortunately, it was no one near as terrifying as her _other_ problem: **she had no idea who she was**. As hard as she tried, she could not remember. She was not even certain how she arrived in that desert, wearing nothing more than a bright tie-dye t-shirt and bell bottom pants (not much protection from the windy, sandy atmosphere she was currently in). All she knew was how scared she was and that her headache was killing her.

Just when the young redhead (a result of her previous "adventure") started to believe all hope was lost for her, she heard the neigh of a horse close to her. She turned her head in its direction and spotted a darkly clad stranger riding on horseback, heading right towards her. A hopeful smile appeared on her face, believing her luck to have finally been looking up. What she did not realize was the stranger was in actuality Jafar, the demented sorcerer from the land of Agrabah; however, to Joanie, he was a blessing.

Once Jafar neared her location, he brought his horse to a full stop, allowing her to approach. "Thank goodness you're here! I was beginning to think I was going to die out here!" Joanie exclaimed.

Jafar and his pet parrot, Iago, glanced up and down at her, noting the strange clothes she wore; they were like nothing he had ever seen before. "Who _are_ you, young lady?" he asked.

"I honestly don't know." Joanie hopelessly said. "I just…woke up here…in the middle of nowhere…without a single clue of whom or where I am."

Jafar eyed her a little more closely, a grin emerging upon his face. "I might be of some service to you," he said while reaching into a sack latched onto the right side of his saddle and pulling out a dark beige cloak that he tossed to Joanie. "Here, take this. It will be nightfall soon and the desert isn't much kinder in its climate then."

Joanie looked at the cloak in her hands and smiled to Jafar. "Thank you. You're a very nice man."

In response to that compliment, Jafar's grin widened with glee.

* * *

Joanie traversed across the desert on horseback with Jafar and Iago until night had arrived. She was more than thankful when nighttime came and felt how cold the desert became. The cloak Jafar provided was working well against the harsh climate, keeping her warm the entire time. During the ride across the desert, Joanie wondered where exactly Jafar was taking them, yet she did not dare to question him after saving her life.

When they arrived upon a large dune, Jafar stopped his horse and waited. Within moments, another rider appeared on horseback, coming straight for them. He stopped and immediately jumped off his horse. "You…are late," Jafar told the man.

"A thousand apologies, o patient one." The man remarked before he noticed Joanie with Jafar. "May I ask who your 'friend' is?"

"She is no concern of yours, Gazeem." Jafar dismissed. "Your only concern should be of the item I have requested you to bring."

"Ah, yes. My half of the medallion." Gazeem said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a golden object that was peculiar in design. Jafar reached out to take it from him, but Gazeem yanked it back and said, "Ah, ah, ahhh! The treasure!"

Suddenly, Iago leaped from his perch on Jafar's shoulder, squawking as he flew by Gazeem and callously snatched the item from Gazeem's grasp. He brought it to Jafar, who pulled out his own half of the same medallion. "Trust me, my pungent friend. You'll get what's coming to you."

"What's coming to you! Awk!" Iago squawked.

Joanie watched with interest as Jafar brought the two halves of the medallion together, creating the design of a scarab. It then glowed in its golden hue and flew directly out of Jafar's hands. The effect scared their horses, nearly knocking Joanie off the one she shared with Jafar. They watched it soared across the night atmosphere, briefly illuminating the dunes it traveled above.

"Quickly, follow the trail!" Jafar exclaimed, motioning for his horse to chase after the flying medallion. He chased right after it with Gazeem and his horse following close behind.

The glowing speck of light that was the scarab medallion traveled far across the desert until it reached another large dune (larger than the one the group departed from) and separated into two on its own. The halves plunged into the dune, leaving only two glowing points of light remaining on the dune. When Joanie, Jafar, and Gazeem arrived at the scene, they were all shocked to see the dune suddenly rise up and transform into the giant head of a lion with the glowing points of light serving as eyes for the manifestation.

Out of everyone in the group, Jafar was the most ecstatic upon witnessing the startling sight. "At last, after all my years of searching…The Cave of Wonders!"

"Awk! Cave of Wonders!" Iago squawked.

"Groovy!" Joanie uttered, even though she had no idea what the word meant.

Jafar then directed his attention back to Gazeem and instructed him, "Now remember…bring _me_ the lamp. The rest of the treasure is yours, but the lamp is _mine_!" Jafar sounded very intent and direct on his instructions, which were clear as a bell to Gazeem.

The pint-sized peddler made his approach to the mouth of the lion, which formed as the entrance to the cave, chuckling greedily with every step he took. Just as he reached the entrance, he was unexpectedly blown away when the cave roared upon speaking. "Who disturbs my slumber?"

The deep, dark tone of the cave's voice brought chills down Joanie's spine as she listened – never before having seen or heard anything like it, much to her _very_ limited knowledge. She nervously looked on as Gazeem boldly addressed the cave. "It is I…Gazeem…a humble thief."

The cave eyed Gazeem sternly and stated, "Know this…Only one may enter here…One whose worth lies far within…A diamond in the rough!"

Gazeem turned back to Jafar, who motioned for him to move forward into the cave. The peddler appeared very apprehensive about entering the lion's mouth, taking heed of the words put upon him by the lion itself. Was he really this "diamond in the rough" the mystical creature requested him to be? Only one way to find out…he moved one foot inside the cave, planting it down. After a brief moment, nothing happened; consequently, Gazeem was relieved and continued on his trek.

_MORARRRRRRRRRR!_

Then came another roar from the lion – it knew he was unworthy of entering the cave. Quickly, Gazeem turned and attempted to run away from the cave; unfortunately, the lion's mouth slammed shut directly over him. The doomed peddler disappeared within the dune, as it collapsed back to normal. All that remained the sudden turn of events were Joanie, Jafar, Iago, and the two separated halves of the medallion.

Having been knocked off the horse and into the sand, the three beings emerged from separate areas and brushed off the sand covering their bodies. Joanie was stricken with horror from the scene that occurred, screaming to Jafar, "What was _that_? What just happened?"

"That, my dear, was an example of the enchantment that surrounds the land of Agrabah." Jafar revealed. "Does it terrify you?"

"Heck, yes, it does!" Joanie answered. "But, at the same time, it also intrigues me as well. Does this stuff happen to you all the time where you're from?"

Jafar grinned. "Yes…this 'stuff' does occur more often than normal – mostly due to _my_ practice in the arts of magic."

"Wow. I'd really love to see more of what you can do."

"Then come with me to Agrabah and I'll teach you."

Joanie smiled on his offer. She then heard Jafar's horse neighing nearby, trying to get out from some sand its feet were buried beneath. Running to the horse, she left Jafar alone with Iago, who retrieved the two halves of the medallion for his master and took his place back on Jafar's shoulder. What happened next could only have happened when no one else was near: Iago spoke to Jafar in plain English. "In case you've forgotten what just happened due to the beautiful redhead we've picked up…we've got a huge problem here! That Gazeem jerk couldn't even step one foot into the cave! We're never gonna get a hold of that stupid la…!"

Jafar interrupted Iago's ranting by simply pinching his beak shut and calmly stating, "We might have discovered the solution to our problem, my feathery friend…in the form of our new 'beautiful redhead' companion. If we can mold her into the perfect sorceress, we might not _need_ a 'diamond in the rough,' but just a simple…loophole."


	23. Chapter Twenty Two: TZ 2010 RZ '92 & '89

**Chapter Twenty-Two: Time Zone – 2010**

"So…you two ladies are from Baton Rogue, and you've _never_ seen any frogs like Robin and me there?" Kermit inquired to Joie and Gina.

Joie shook her head and answered, "Nope…not one. And you've never seen people like Gina and me there either?"

Robin shook his head also. "Nope."

"Well, what does _that_ mean?" Scooter asked.

"It means that the two ladies are from a parallel universe." Bunsen stated. "It's the only reasonable deduction, considering the differences between spots. While Kermit and Robin are aware of a Baton Rouge, Louisiana with members of their family, Joie and Gina are simply familiar with people who can…er…alter their facial appearances drastically."

Gina frowned at the Muppet scientist. "Well, _you_ were the one who asked for a demonstration."

"Yes, but I did not expect to need a change of underwear afterward." Bunsen sheepishly remarked.

"Wow!" Bean exclaimed. "Isn't this amazing? We have people from another time and people from another dimension all under one roof. It's like a great science fiction movie!"

"_Stargate_, okay." Pepe uttered.

Meanwhile, Beaker typed a few keys into the computer and a loud, brief buzzing sound emitted from the Magic Gateway. Once it passed, he meeped to Bunsen, pretending to dust off his hands.

Bunsen turned to Beaker, seeming a little amazed. "Beaker, you fixed our radiation issue?" His assistant meeped a happy response. "Splendid, Beaker!"

"Does that mean ya'll can fix _them_?" Clifford asked, gesturing to Ciciley, Kimberly, and Meagan, who were still acting as if they were Princess Jasmine, The Mad Hatter, and Cruella De Vil.

"And also get Joanie back from wherever she is?" Robin added.

"Well, yes and no." Bunsen answered.

The others looked very confused, leading Kermit into asking, "Yes and no to which parts?"

"Yes, I can bring Joanie back; no, I cannot fix your friends… not yet, at least." Bunsen clarified. "I can pinpoint Joanie's current location through the computer. Now that Beaker and I have corrected its functions, finding her and her mother will be much simpler now."

"Well, she'll be ecstatic to hear that, once we get her back." Kermit said.

Clifford seemed a little offended of how the _older_ Muppets seemed to negate the other situation at hand. "Now, wait a sec! Let's try and focus on the here and now, man! Three of our friends think they're Disney characters, not to mention Tracy is lying on the floor over there, _still_ unconscious! Maybe we can _try_ and focus on all of _this_ for a minute before we…"

"Hey, buddy!" Scooter yelled to Clifford. "_Our_ friend is in trouble, too! She's probably in _bigger_ trouble than any of _your_ friends ar…"

"Hey, hey, no need to blow our tops, guys." Bobo quickly interjected. "We're all just trying to do the right thing here."

"That's right." Fozzie agreed with the other bear. "Standing here arguing isn't going to help our friends."

Observing the scene, Joie whispered to Gina, "Weird how the bears are the cool-headed ones in all of this." Gina concurred with her sister's sentiment with a simple nod. Joie then stepped forward and spoke out to the Muppets. "Hey, I've got an idea. Since half of ya'll wanna help this Joanie chick, why not send _that_ half out through this little machine of yours, while err-body else stay here and do their thang?"

The Muppets pondered over Joie's idea, finding the marvelous logic in it.

Kermit smiled and stated, "Excellent idea. We'll take a vote on who stays and who goes. Everyone who wants to go and find Joanie, raise your hand, flipper, or paws." Robin, Fozzie, Gonzo, Scooter, Kermit himself, and even Bobo all raised their arms.

Rizzo glanced surprisingly at Bobo. "_You_ wanna go into dah insane machine?"

"Hey, everybody else gotta chance. Can't I have one?" Bobo remarked.

"I want to go, too." Bean spoke up, raising his paw. "Going into a world based on Disney sounds pretty cute."

"Trust me, amigo. Once jou go in, it won't seem so 'cute'." Pepe warned.

Kermit nodded and lowered his hand along with the others. "Then it's settled. We'll go and find Joanie, while the rest of you take care of things here." He then turned to Bunsen and asked, "Can you send us to Joanie's _exact_ location?"

"Not precisely, Kermit," Bunsen elucidated, "but I can place you within the closest proximity of the world she's in."

"Well, that's good…I think." Kermit remarked.

Joie smiled upon witnessing the vote amongst the Muppets. "I might get in on this myself. What about you, Gee? You gonna chill here or go with us?"

"No, thanks." Gina cautiously answered. "I'm happy stayin' right here 'til ya'll get back. I've got no problem holdin' down the fort while you're gone."

"Suit yourself." Joie acknowledged before walking to the Magic Gateway and observing it. "So how do ya'll work this thing?"

Bunsen pressed the button on the computer that achieved the newly repaired door to the Magic Gateway's chamber. Joie reflected from the surprising action, as were Clifford, Bobo, and Bean. In response to Joie's inquiry, Bunsen instructed, "You simply step inside and the machine takes you across time and space to your requested destination – in this case, an area called…" He slightly adjusted his glasses while gazing upon the computer screen. "…Agrabah."

The ears of Ciciley (Jasmine) perked when she heard the name of the location. "Agrabah! That is my home!" She went to Joie, grabbing her arm and pleading, "Take me with you! I _must_ get back to my father – I'm all he has left!"

Joie was not entirely sure of what to do; she gazed towards Bunsen, hoping for some type of suggestion.

"Let her go with you." Bunsen recommended after careful thought. "Perhaps actually being _in_ the world could snap her out of this persona."

Shrugging with an uncertain grin, Joie told Ciciley (Jasmine), "Sure…of course you can come."

Ciciley (Jasmine) smiled and appreciatively said, "Thank you."

"C'mon. Let's go." Robin anxiously beckoned. "The longer we spend time here, the more danger Joanie could be in." The little frog sighed and added, "I really hope she's alright."

**Realm Zone – 1992**

The Sultan's palace stood majestically at the center of the enchanted city of Agrabah, its structure practically glistening under the bright morning sun. In the back section of the palace was a beautiful garden, complete with an equally beautiful fountain that had sparkling water flowing through it. Sitting by the fountain was a young princess named Jasmine, daughter of the Sultan, who stared long and hard at her reflection in the water. However, Jasmine was not staring at herself in admiration of her magnificent beauty, but rather because something was entirely amiss. Even though it was Princess Jasmine in the reflection, the thoughts and feelings she possessed belonged to Ciciley Thomas.

Ciciley could not figure out how it happened. One minute, she was standing in the basement of the Muppet Theater and hearing a weird buzzing sound; and, in the next minute, she was standing in the Sultan's palace as Princess Jasmine. Undoubtedly, the strange occurrence was courtesy of Bunsen Honeydew's machine, which experienced yet another "hiccup" that sent Ciciley not only out of her own dimension, but out of her own body as well. Not that she was carrying any serious qualms over it; she actually _enjoyed_ being one of her favorite Disney princesses…for the time being.

A low, heavy purring sound was heard close to her, and she quickly noticed Rajah – Princess Jasmine's pet tiger – slowly moving toward her. To Rajah, Ciciley _was_ Jasmine and treated her as the princess. Ciciley did her best not to fear the tiger, since he had to _be_ Princess Jasmine for the sake of those in the world she was trapped in. Doing her best not to hesitate, she softly stroked Rajah on the head, which encouraged the gentle tiger to purr even more.

Ciciley smiled and said – in Jasmine's voice, "Good tiger. _Nice_ tiger."

"Jasmine!"

It was the Sultan.

Ciciley turned her head at the moment she heard his voice to see him enter the garden area, looking very giddy at the moment. Once he saw her sitting with Rajah by the fountain, he exclaimed upon running to her, "Oh, Jasmine! There you are! There's something I must tell you!"

She smiled, knowing exactly what she was going to say before he even could say it. "I know, _Father_. I know. You have another suitor for me to choose to marry. But I'm _not_ going to choose him, because I'm not truly in love with him, and Rajah will just scare him off." Rajah seemed delighted by that last part, smiling as Ciciley said it. "So you can just send him away, because I know my _true_ love is still waiting for me out there…somewhere."

The Sultan stared at her with a perplexed look upon his face. "Erm…well…I s-suppose that would be one thing to tell you, if there was a suitor coming today…but I'm afraid there isn't."

The confusion then turned to Ciciley upon hearing what the Sultan told her. "Really? Then what did you come to tell me?"

"I've come to tell you about Jafar and the woman _he_ is courting."

Ciciley reacted with surprise and worry. Events were not transpiring at all like they originally had in the story, which left her to believe her involvement in it was altering things. Then again, Ciciley was only involved as Princess Jasmine…not as herself. Something was definitely wrong – that much was certain to her.

"Uh…who _did_ he choose, Father?"

"Someone quite magnificent."

All heads turned to the doorway leading into the garden to see Jafar (with Iago perched upon his shoulder) with a figure standing close behind him in the shadows.

"Princess Jasmine…Your Majesty…I present to you, my _new_ bride…Dawn!"

Out from the shadows appeared a young redheaded woman wearing a burgundy outfit that was very alluring yet intimidating in nature, complete with a midriff and a belt buckle with a unique skull design. She looked like nothing Ciciley had ever seen in the _Aladdin_ mythology before – and she literally was not. This "Dawn" character was completely new to the story, and she was the very reason these new events had transpired. However, Dawn was not an unfamiliar figure to Ciciley; on the contrary, she knew _exactly_ who she _really_ was.

Dawn was in actuality Joanie Navarro!

"Greetings, Sultan." Dawn said with an empowering voice that Joanie was never known for carrying. "It is a pleasure to be in the presence of you and your beautiful daughter." She looked to Ciciley and bowed to her.

Ciciley gazed upon Dawn/Joanie in total disbelief, seeing the shocking appearance and persona that her mother was taking up. Whatever Jafar had done to her, it was far from pleasant.

**Realm Zone – 1989**

Brandy stood in one place and fiddled with the holographic displays projected on her wristband, while Sean paced back and forth on the beach, trying his best not to scream out anything offensive to her. Noticing how distraught he was, Brandy told him, "She's alright, Sean. Really, she is. She's only lost maybe seventy-eight percent of her brainwaves, while the other twenty-two percent is still technically Ariel's."

"Oh, wow. Thanks. Makes me feel _a lot_ better." Sean said in great sarcasm.

"Hey, I'm not seein' _you_ come up with any ideas, Da…!"

She quickly stopped herself before she uttered something that she was not supposed to. Sean caught her mid-blunder and stopped pacing long enough to curiously glance at her. There was an awkward moment of silence between them, and then Brandy calmly changed the subject.

"Look, the best part is that we know _where_ she is. All we need to do now is go there and find her, which is what you're about to do right now."

Sean reacted to her instruct with confusion and offense. "Wait! Wha…? Me? Well, what will you be doing?"

"I'm going to get Bella and Michelle." Brandy informed while reading some information from her wristband. "According to my readings, they're in the _Winnie the Pooh_ realm. Why they are, I have no idea; but I'm going to get them, and you're going to find Joanie."

"Wait a minute."

"We don't _have_ a minute, man! Every second counts!"

With that established, Brandy pushed in bits of information onto the small holographic keypad above her wristband. Before he could try to say another word, Sean's form engaged in reanimation and vanished from the beach. Once he was away, Brandy keyed in another bit of information on the display and deployed herself to the same process, disappearing within only seconds.


	24. Chapter Twenty Three: Realm Zone 1992

**Chapter Twenty-Three: Realm Zone – 1992**

The Sultan was so thrilled by Jafar's new "bride" that he canceled any plans he had for arranging a meeting for a suitor with Jasmine (Ciciley) and dedicated the rest of the day to celebrating and getting to know Dawn. The woman who Ciciley personally knew as Joanie Navarro was sharing dinner with her, Jafar, and the Sultan, sitting on the floor around a table decorated with the finest Arabian tableware. Ciciley was in no mood to eat anything in front of her; she was squarely focused on Dawn, trying to figure out what had become of her mother. Was it an effect of the unusual mishap that occurred with Bunsen's machine – similar to what happened with her?

"Jasmine, is there anything wrong, my dear?" The Sultan questioned.

Ciciley snapped out of her focus and looked to the Sultan, appearing slightly off-course. "I-I'm sorry?"

"You haven't touched your dinner since we've sat down."

Ciciley looked down upon the meal – a piece of roasted pork with a few chopped vegetables – made with the greatest delicacy she had ever seen (only the best for royalty). She smiled and picked up her fork, poking into one of the vegetables. "I'm fine, Father. I was just…admiring Jafar's new bride."

Jafar grinned with wicked satisfaction. "Yes, she is rather wond…"

He stopped as soon as he turned to Dawn and noticed what everyone else suddenly noticed along with him: **Dawn brushing her hair with her fork**. It was the most peculiar thing Jafar and the Sultan had ever seen; Ciciley, on the other hand, had seen it done before by Ariel in _The Little Mermaid_. Not only was Joanie taking on an entirely different persona, but she was mimicking actions done by another Disney character. Ciciley could not help but to be a little amused, yet she maintained caution to stay focused on whatever was happening.

After giving her hair a good brush with the fork, Dawn cleaned the strands of red hair off of it and used the utensil to eat her dinner next. Jafar was bemused and disgusted by the bizarre action. Clearing his throat and trying to regain constitution, he continued, "Yes, she is rather…wonderful."

Ciciley figured it was time to finally get to the bottom of the mystery. She asked Dawn, "So…how long have you and Jafar known each other?"

"We are soul mates, Princess Jasmine." Dawn remarked. "From our perspective, Jafar and I have known each other for centuries. You might call it…reincarnation."

Her words sounded incredibly symbolic to Ciciley, as if Joanie somewhat knew what had happened to her. Ciciley hoped that she did, or her solution to this problem would be met with much difficulty. "Well, I'm certainly _happy_ for you two." Her words were forced with mocked delight; she had to sell the moment long enough to throw Jafar and the Sultan off. As far as Ciciley was concerned, no other characters within that realm had anything to do with the matter.

"So when shall the wedding be, Jafar? I-I mean, that is to say, should I prepare a ceremony for the people of Agrabah to attend?" Sultan suggested, sounding very giddy and nervous all at once.

"There is no need, Your Majesty." Jafar rejected. "Dawn and I shall hold a private ceremony in your throne room…tomorrow!"

Ciciley was taking a sip from her cup at the moment the sudden proclamation was made, and she choked on the red liquid, coughing loudly before everyone. Greatly concerned, the Sultan looked to her and asked, "Jasmine, are you all right?"

Gasping for air, Ciciley answered in a low voice, "Fine…Father."

A loud boom sounded from outside the palace, and everyone turned to the nearby window to see dark clouds emerging from the horizon, lightning streaking out from them. "Oh, dear," the Sultan uttered, "there is quite a storm on the approach."

Dawn's bright blue eyes focused hard on the stormy clouds as she quietly added, "And someone's coming with it."

"What was that, my bride?" Jafar curiously asked.

She looked away from the window and to Jafar with zero emotion showing on her face. "Nothing, my love. Nothing at all." Even Jafar was slightly struck cold from the emotionless stare she was giving him. For a brief moment, he began to have doubts about this young woman he found in the desert, brought to the palace with him, and committed to showing her the dark arts of sorcery. Once a girl who had no memory of herself, she was suddenly finding a personality all on her own.

Ciciley observed the exchange between Jafar and Dawn; she knew something was up, especially from the weird statement that Dawn muttered. _Who_ was coming with the storm?

* * *

The fierce storm loomed over the desert regions outside of Agrabah. Intense winds blew through the area, kicking up large portions of sand. Lightning streaked across the sky, emitting brief flashes of light over the dim atmosphere. Any close observers would see that it was no regular storm; it was more intense. Certain bolts of lightning were close to the ground, striking bits of sand.

Finally, one giant bolt of lightning hit one particular dune, creating an eruption of sand. However, sand was not the only thing that erupted from the impact; human and Muppet bodies soared as well. Kermit, Scooter, Gonzo, Fozzie, Robin, Bobo, and Bean arrived at the scene with Joie and Jasmine, all of them wearing hooded Arabian cloaks. One other was added to the fray as well, and that was Sean, wearing his own cloak. Everyone was scattered not very far from each other over the sandy plain.

Joie was the first one to get to her feet, but it was quite a chore in doing so. She felt dizzy and her vision was slightly hazy. Once things started to come in focus, Joie looked across the plain to see Sean get to his own feet; a huge smile suddenly grew on her face upon seeing him. "Bro!" she exclaimed, running directly to him. Taking him by total surprise, she tackled him back to the sand and practically squeezed the life out of him. "I oughta _kill_ you for makin' Gina and me worry so bad about you!"

Sean fought to get air back into his lungs. "You're…doing…a good job…of that…_already_!"

Joie let go of him and looked into his eyes; unfortunately, that was when the smile faded from her face and a heavy frown emerged. "You _ain't_ my lil' bro!"

"Really…what gave it away?" Sean asked, albeit with a hint of sarcasm.

"You have brown eyes; _he_ has one blue and one green." Joie gazed upon Sean with confusion and slight interest. "Who _are_ you, man?"

"My name's Sean…or, to you, 'Sean of Earth Prime'."

"Yeah, I'll stick wit just 'Sean,' thank you."

As the two of them got to their feet, Sean shook his head in disbelief and uttered, "Man! How many of you are there?"

"Huh?" Joie exclaimed.

Before Sean had a chance to explain, he and Joie heard the others moaning as they sat up. The first person Sean noticed in the group was Ciciley (Jasmine). He ran to her as she got up and asked, "Sis! Cici! Are you okay?"

"Cici?" She said, looking up at him. "My name is Jasmine. But I am okay, just…a bit stunned."

Sean stared at her, looking completely baffled, until Joie cleared things up for him. "Uh, yeah. She's been flipped by this radiation or somethin' from that lil' lemon-headed dude's machine. She thinks she's Princess Jasmine."

"Oh, boy." Sean lowered and shook his head in distraught. "The same thing happened to my mother, who is the reason I'm here right now."

"You mean Joanie thinks she's a Disney character, too?" Robin inquired, listening in on the exchange from a couple of feet away while being checked upon by his uncle.

Sean nodded. "At least she did before being sent here. According to Brandy, she's lost at least seventy-eight of her brainwaves, which can only mean she has partial amnesia."

"Who's Brandy?" Bean asked.

"Yeah, and what does 'amnesia' mean?" Bobo added.

Seeing the two Muppet characters, Sean reacted in great displeasure. "What're _you_ two doing here? Do you have any idea how dangerous it is to even be in this place?"

"Well…Pepe _did_ try to tell us that." Bean sheepishly said.

"And you didn't listen to him?"

Bobo and Bean responded to that question with bizarre expressions, which led Sean to rethink whom he was talking about.

"Oh, yeah. Right."

"Well, we're all here anyway," Scooter indicated, "so we might as well just stick together as much as we can." He then stared up to the stormy skies and added, "We'll definitely need to, if we're gonna escape this horrible storm."

The others looked upward as well, seeing the storm that appeared somewhat unnatural. Sean looked back down to ground level and saw the endless miles of dunes surrounding them. "There's no way we'll be able to find Agrabah in the middle of all this."

"I've traveled these deserts with my father in our royal caravan many times in the past." Jasmine revealed. "I know _exactly_ how to get us there. Follow me."

The group did as the princess requested and followed her lead. As they had done so, Joie grinned and muttered, "Glad we brought her along after all."

* * *

With Jasmine leading the entire way, the group arrived in Agrabah a lot sooner than anticipated. Upon their arrival, Sean urged the Muppets to cover their faces with the cloth from their cloaks to avoid unwanted attention from Agrabah residents. However, as they walked down one of the many streets within the enchanted city, hardly many citizens filled it. All of the residents were taking shelter from the approaching storm, which was the strongest one they had ever seen. Some of the residents, who were considered to be part of a lower class (known as "street rats"), were not able to take proper shelter; instead, they hid in the nearest secluded alley, bundling together to stay warm.

Jasmine looked on at the families – many of them large in size – forced to be on the street during the fierce storm; she felt like crying at the dismal sight of them. "This is horrible. These people shouldn't have to be outdoors in this."

"Those poor children." Bean observed along with the princess. "Pepe was right, Bobo. This isn't cute. This isn't cute at all."

"We can't turn back now." Kermit stated, pointing to the Sultan's palace, which towered over all of Agrabah at the edge of the city. "Joanie's got to be in there."

A large boom sounded from the sky, alarming the group.

"Well, let's move, before this storm gets any worse than it already is!" Sean suggested, urging the group to move down the street much quicker than before.

The group rushed down the street, passing through several residents rushing to their homes to hide from the storm. When they finally approached the massive double doors of the palace, they were met by the lawful hands of three palace guards – two standing at opposite ends of it and one at the center. The center one was the tallest and most muscular, speaking with a tone of authority while addressing the group. "Halt! No one is allowed in the palace without permission – especially no _street rats_!"

Jasmine stepped forward and addressed the tough guard. "Captain, you _will_ let us inside."

The captain guard laughed. "By whose order?"

"By order of _me_…Princess Jasmine!"

The guards instantly busted out in laughter, pointing to Jasmine, whose persona did not appear to show through the form of Ciciley. Joie, seeing no point in trying to convince the guards of the truth, decided to take matters into her own hands. Moving faster than the naked eye, she charged at the captain of the guards and pinned his body against one of the doors. With fierceness in her voice, Joie demanded while face-to-face with the captain guard, "Let us in or I'll _bust_ you to pieces, dude!"

Before she knew it, Joie heard the sound of swords being unsheathed from left and right. Looking both ways, she noticed that the other two guards were pointing Arabian swords at her head. The captain guard arrogantly laughed, pushing Joie away from him and drawing out his own sword. "You'll regret threatening _me_, street rat!"

Scooter shook his head with a groan, telling Joie, "You _had_ to go with the 'direct approach,' didn't you?"

"Hey, it don't work wit err-body, okay?" Joie remarked.

Before the guards could take action on the group, two small, red objects flew in from above and hit the two regular guards upon their heads. Another one soon appeared and struck the captain square in the face, splattering its contents all over his eyes and blinding him in the process. Taking advantage of the distraction, the group ran from the guards, moving _away_ from the palace, much to the chagrin of Robin. "Wait! What about Joanie?"

"Right now, I'd be much more concerned about _us_, Robin!" Kermit exclaimed.

Not before long, a young, barefoot street urchin wearing a purple vest, white pants, and a small red fez appeared from the corner of a nearby alleyway just as the group approached. With him was a small and slender brown monkey wearing a red vest and hat with red at the top and purple at the bottom, observing the scene along with his human friend. Once the group was within earshot, the young man exclaimed, "Hey! Over here!" They stopped in their tracks and noticed him beckoning for them to follow. "This way!"

The group followed the young street urchin into the alleyway, which was dim enough to seclude themselves from the pursuing guards. As soon as they saw them pass by and continue down the street, unaware of their location in the alley, they knew for sure they were in the clear. Fozzie sighed in relief and showed his gratitude for the young man's kindness. "Wow. Thanks, pal. You did us a _huge_ favor back there."

"Yeah, you really saved our skins _and_ the hairs on them." Gonzo added.

"I speak for all trillion of mine." Bobo uttered.

The street urchin chuckled at the silliness in the gratitude that was shown to him. "No problem. I outran those guys this morning. You'd think the Sultan would hire better help these days." He then extended his hand to Sean and said, "Name's Aladdin. And this is Abu." He gestured to the monkey on his shoulder, who screeched a happy greeting.

Sean, who was already familiar with the street urchin at the moment he saw him, shook his hand before gesturing to himself and the others. "I'm Sean and these are my friends Kermit, Fozzie, Gonzo, Scooter, Bobo, Bean, Robin, and Joie."

Aladdin waved hello to the group, but he centered his focus on one particular person within it – Jasmine. However, it was _not_ the Jasmine who Aladdin was supposed to have met, but rather an avatar of sorts. Approaching her, he said with an enchanting whisper, "And who is this?"

Jasmine smiled at the way he was staring into her/Ciciley's eyes. "My name is Jas…"

"Ciciley!" Sean exclaimed, stepping right in between the two, his tall frame blocking Jasmine from Aladdin's sights. "She is my sister…and she's a little crazy." He circled his finger around his ear for emphasis.

Listening to Sean, Jasmine grinned, clearly seeing how he was trying to stick her with an identity that was not her own. Of course, after the mishap with the palace guards, she knew it was probably for the best. Still, Jasmine was quite enthralled with the young street urchin who they just met. Aladdin's bravery was unlike any the Princess of Agrabah had seen before.

"Well, it's great to have met you all. You seem like decent people. That's why Abu and I helped get you out of that jam with the apples we threw." Aladdin stated, sharing a high-five with his monkey friend. "Why _did_ all of you try to get into the palace anyway?"

Sean knew that he could not reveal too much to Aladdin, so he made up the best lie he could think up. "Well, uh…we're not from around here. We figured it wouldn't hurt asking for…directions?"

The others shook their heads in disgust – it was the _worst_ lie anyone could ever make up.

"You've gotta be a total idiot to buy that one." Scooter whispered to Kermit, and the frog nodded heavily in agreement.

"Well, that makes sense to me." Aladdin remarked, surprising everyone – including Sean himself. "But you really shouldn't be out in the middle of this crazy storm. Abu and I have a place not very far from here. You all can take shelter there." Abu screeched his displeasure with Aladdin's offer, but Aladdin simply ignored all of it.

Sean masked gratefulness, doing his best to politely refuse Aladdin's offer. "Oh, well, I don't think…"

"We would _love_ to." Jasmine stepped around Sean, making herself visible to Aladdin as she accepted the offer on behalf of everyone. She shot a dirty look at Sean, who did not seem very pleased.

"Great! This will be a lot of fun!" Aladdin said with a smile.

"Yeah," Sean muttered, faking enthusiasm. "It'll be a real blast."


	25. Chapter Twenty Four: RZ '77 & '92

**Chapter Twenty-Four: Realm Zone – 1977**

The sun was warm and bright as it hung in the sky over the Hundred Acre Wood – it was the warmest and brightest Bella and Michelle had ever seen a sun before, which was saying quite a bit considering how cloudy it was most of the time where they lived. One thing that reminded the two young women much of home was the beautiful countryside they were passing through the area. It was such a wonderfully exuberant atmosphere that neither of the two sisters could help but to soak it all in. At one point in their trek through the land known famous by the _Winnie the Pooh_ stories, Bella dropped to the soft grass and moved her arms and legs around, making an angelic figure in the grass.

"Oh, Michelle! We could stay here forever!" Bella happily exclaimed, her heart glowing dark blue.

Michelle smiled and giggled, her heart glowing a lighter shade of blue. "I know, Bella; but you know how Brandy would feel about that."

Bella stopped making her angel and sat up quickly with an alarmed expression upon her face. "Oh, no! I totally forgot how she'll be able to find us! We're supposed to be in the _Jungle Book_ world."

A nervous hand went to Michelle's mouth as she made the same realization. "You're right! I didn't think about that! Oh, Bella, what're we gonna do?"

Bella stood back up and comforted her nervous little sister. "It'll be alright, Michelle. Brandy is one of the most intelligent girls we've ever met. When Sean went missing for days, she was right there ready and willing to help us out. She knew _exactly_ where to find him."

"Yeah, but it wasn't _really_ him." Michelle contradicted.

Bella let out a deep sigh, her heart shined a fainted shade of orange. "I know, but you have to believe our _real_ little brother is out there somewhere."

Michelle smirked. "I will never forget the day he showed up at our doorstep, only a few days old. He was so soft and tiny – I couldn't stop holding him. I never wanted to put him down."

Bella giggled. "Me, too. I never held a baby as beautiful as him."

"When he opened his eyes for the first time, I was the first person he saw. Me…his second oldest sister." Tears began to fall from Michelle's eyes; her heart shined a light purple hue.

Soon Bella was tearing up as well, an effect of the same deep reminiscing that Michelle was experiencing. "His first word became my one and only nickname. That little mouth of his opened when he looked at me and said, 'Bell-uh.'" She closed her eyes, letting the tears stream down faster, and smiled. "Bless his heart. I wish I could see him right now."

"Me, too." Michelle quietly uttered.

The two sisters stood together and wept until…

"Hey, you two!"

Their heads turned and spotted Brandy standing a few feet across from them, her black attire a heavy contrast to the bright, sun-filled atmosphere of the Hundred Acre Wood. She did not look very happy at the moment she found the two sisters, although they were quite pleased to see her. Bella and Michelle practically ran to Brandy and gave her a huge hug, much to Brandy's immediate surprise.

"Oh! We're so glad you found us!" Michelle joyfully exclaimed.

"We didn't think you would _ever_ find us!" Bella said with just as much zeal as her sister.

Brandy did not return their hugs; she simply just stood stiffly and factually muttered, "You two have only been here for five minutes." Of course, this fact completely went over the two girls' heads, so Brandy pretended as if she said nothing on the subject. "Guess if there's one good thing to come from this it's that the headbands can enable subjects to transport to another realm just from _thinking_ of one."

"We were being chased by Shere Khan." Michelle informed. "We both thought the best place to be was here in the Hundred Acre Wood."

Looking around at the cheery atmosphere, Brandy nodded and said, "Excellent choice. But we can't stay here, ladies. I have some people to save and a timeline to protect."

Bella curiously looked upon Brandy, seeing a bit of anxiety on her face. "Have you yet to tell Sean that he's your…?"

"No!" Brandy hastily said. "And neither of you are going to tell him either."

Michelle shook her head negatively. "But it's not fair for him to not to know…"

"I'm not going to risk altering the past and ruining _my_ future like that, Michelle!" Brandy retorted. "Now, seriously, can we please stop talking about this and go find…"

She stopped talking when something small, yellow, and obese fell right in front of them and landed in some large bushes near them. It completely took the three women by surprise, and Michelle opened up the bushes to reveal a familiar bear that was "stuffed with fluff" and often described as being "a bear of very little brain," tangled in branches and looking very distraught – even a little lost in thought. Bella and Michelle instantly let out one long "Aww" upon discovering _the_ Winnie the Pooh in the bushes. Brandy rolled her eyes and moved her fingers through her long black hair in frustration.

_Looks like we're going to be here a lot longer_, she despairingly thought.

**Realm Zone – 1992**

Sean rolled his eyes and moved his fingers through his short black hair in frustration while standing in Aladdin's home, where Aladdin was practically flirting with Jasmine, who was still carrying the mask of his sister. He tried not to look at them too much as they sat by the gaping hole in his home that revealed a gorgeous view of the Sultan's palace. Both Aladdin and Jasmine were reenacting the very conversation they had during their first time together in the film – the only notable difference was Aladdin being enthralled by Ciciley's appearance and not Jasmine's. The thought of it all truly bugged Sean, and this was pretty clear to Joie as she approached him.

"Dude, are you okay?" She asked.

His back facing Aladdin and Jasmine, he whispered to Joie, "No, I'm not. That's my sister he's ogling over."

Joie seemed a little confused from his comment. "Can we still say 'ogling' in a cartoon environment? 'Cause there is a few 'PG' words I've been wantin' to say since we got here, man."

Not listening much to Joie, Sean muttered his thoughts out loud, "Where _is_ Brandy? She's the only one who can fix this problem."

"Maybe she ran into traffic?" Joie sarcastically presumed, which only got her a cold stare from Sean. Joie innocently raise her hands up and said, "I'm just tryin' to cheer you up, bro. I can _still_ call you 'bro,' right?"

Sean sighed and answered, "Yeah, sure…whatever."

Joie nodded and smiled. "Look, I'm sure this isn't as serious as you're makin' it out to be. I mean, he's just a cartoon character. He's not real."

"I'm having a hard time believing that, considering how I was almost killed by the Beast from _Beauty and the Beast_, nearly eaten by Kaa in _The Jungle Book_, got sand in my shoes while walking on a beach for hours in _The Little Mermaid_, and almost got my throat cut here in _Aladdin_."

Hearing his long, harsh remark, Joie was almost at a lost for words until she said, "Well, at least you've still got your health."

Sean scoffed at her words. "And you want to know what the worse part of it all is?" He turned, faced her, and added, "I'm still trying to figure out how _you_ fit in."

Joie squinted in confusion at his words and tried to ask what he meant by it until her opportunity was taken by Bobo, who looked out the large hole in Aladdin's home and shouted, "Hey, it's Princess Jasmine…or, uh, the _real_ Princess Jasmine, I think?"

Everyone looked out the window along with Bobo and saw the figure that resembled the Sultan's daughter strolling down the street and wearing a cloak to hide her identity. To Sean, Joie, Bean, and Bobo, she looked like she was repeating the part of the story in which she escaped from her father's palace; to Kermit, Scooter, Gonzo, Robin, and Fozzie, she was a total stranger; to Aladdin, she was just as much as a sight to behold as the _other_ Jasmine; to the _other_ Jasmine, she was an imposter brought upon by dark magic.

Whomever or whatever she was, Sean was curious enough to know that he rushed out of Aladdin's home immediately. Within seconds, Sean was on the street and face-to-face with the young woman. At the moment she saw him she smiled and joyously said, "Sean!"

He took a step back, alarmed that she even knew his name, considering how they had never met – not counting the cast members at _Walt Disney World_.

Seeing how shocked he was, the young woman who _looked_ like Princess Jasmine stated, "It's me, Ciciley."

Sean should have been even more confused at that point, but her statement made a ton of sense to him. He suddenly realized that Jasmine and Ciciley had in fact switched bodies – a possible form of reanimation. The only reason that theory came to mind was how he witnessed it firsthand in the realm of _The Little Mermaid_ with his mother and Ariel. If Brandy was there to witness it, she would say how much of an "amazing breakthrough" it was; of course, she was _not_ there, leaving Sean with quite a mess on his hands.

Before Sean could ask what happened to his sister, she rushed right to him and quickly said, "Let's not start worrying about what happened to me and instead worry about what's happening to our mother."

Sean did not like the sound of what she was telling him. "What do you mean? Where's Joanie?"

Ciciley nodded her head toward the palace. "In there…but, Sean…she's _not_ herself at the moment. She's taken on this whole new personality – thinks she's this sorceress named 'Dawn'. And she's going to marry Jafar tomorrow."

"What?" Sean yelled in shock.

"Who's Dawn?" A voice said from behind them, and they turned to see Aladdin coming out of his home with Jasmine, Joie, and the Muppets.

Jasmine stormed towards Ciciley and angrily said to her, "A better question is who _you_ are and why you have taken my body?"

Ciciley was slightly taken aback of the fact that she was staring at her own angry face; it had to be just as bizarre for Jasmine to stare at hers as well. She stammered for a reasonable explanation to the Princess of Agrabah, but all that came out was total gibberish. While Ciciley was having difficulty talking to Jasmine, Sean looked to the sky and noticed how much more violent the storm was becoming. The sky was literally exploding with fire; it was no longer plagued with lightning.

"You see it, too?" Joie said, standing beside him and looking to the sky as well. "What _is_ goin' on up in here?"

"I don't know, but we've gotta fix Cici and Jasmine and get out of here before…" He stopped once he looked down the street, not very far from where all of them were standing, and spotted a dark figure dressed in burgundy accompanied by a large group of palace guards. They were staring directly at the group with devilish grins upon each of their faces.

Seeing them, Joie knew the group was in trouble, yet she still bothered to ask in curiosity. "Who's the chick?" She was clearly referring to the sinister-looking redhead dressed in burgundy, leading the pack of guards.

"I wish I really knew right now." Sean responded.


	26. Chapter Twenty Five: RZ '77 & '92

**Chapter Twenty-Five: Realm Zone – 1977**

"Think, think, think." Pooh sat and muttered to himself after being helped out of the bush that he fell into while trying to climb up a honey tree. "Oh, bother. There was something or someone that I was trying to think about or think of…but I'm forgetting."

Bella and Michelle stood before Pooh, observing his moment of pondering and murmuring amongst each other of how "cute" and "precious" the Pooh bear was to them. Hearing of his dilemma, Michelle knelt down to be face-to-face with him and asked, "What was the last thing you were thinking about before falling from the tree?"

"Oh, that's easy." Pooh said with a chuckle. "It was honey." He looked up at the tree he had fallen from and pointed to the very top. "I could _smell_ the honey when I was close to it; but, unfortunately, being a bear with very small arms, I couldn't reach it."

"Bless your heart." Bella sadly said. "I'm sure we can help you get it." She turned to Brandy, who was sitting upon a rock nearby and fiddling with her wristband. "Brandy, don't you have something that could help Pooh get his honey? With all of the wonderful tools you have, I'm sure there is something you could pull…"

"May I speak with you girls for a moment _please_?" Brandy looked up and said without giving Bella a chance to finish her statement. From the stern way she spoke out her request, the sisters knew they were in trouble – both of their hearts glowing a pinkish color. They walked over to Brandy as she stopped fiddling with her wristband and heard her give them a strict reprimand. "You two realize that, by interfering with the story of this dimension, you're not just putting the status of this world at risk, but _our_ world as well."

"We know, Brandy," Michelle acknowledged, "but…it's Winnie the Pooh."

"We both grew up on the stories." Bella mentioned. "Our mother used to read them to us when we were little, and we read them to Sean when _he_ was little. It's sort of a family tradition."

"So you can understand us being so excited to be here, don't you?" Michelle asked.

Brandy looked left and right, seeing the great pleasure in the faces of the two sisters. It was the happiest she had ever seen them since discovering them in their realm and involving them in this bizarre expedition of hers. After a long, deep sigh, she got up from the rock that had been stinging her bottom for nearly an hour and walked over to Pooh, who was still in thinking mode. "Uh, Pooh?" she said, feeling just as awkward conversing with a Disney character as she did in the _Little Mermaid_ world. "You still want that honey from the tree?"

"Oh, yes. More than anything." Pooh remarked. "But I don't wish to fall from it again."

Punching in a few holographic numbers on her wristband, Brandy commenced in building a schematic of Pooh's physique. A holographic readout popped up from her wristband that noted Pooh's height and body mass index, as well as analyzed the length and width of the honey tree. Once the array of information was inputted into the wristband, a translucent blue beam shot out from the device and placed an aura around Pooh, turning the bear from yellow to a greenish hue. He giggled from the tickling sensation Brandy's aura gave him as he floated to the very top of the honey tree. Once he reached the hole that he got near in his previous attempt at climbing the tree, Pooh reached right inside and scooped up all the honey he wanted, putting it in his mouth.

Pooh sang with delight as he treated himself to the honey: "_Hum dum de dum, hum dum de dum! I'm so rumblee in my tumblee! Time to munch an early luncheon! Hum de dum dum!_"

Over the entire time Pooh was enjoying the honey from the tree, Bella and Michelle were watching with delight and feeling proud of Brandy for helping the bear in the way she did. The two sisters then noticed how she was inputting some other information into her wristband, which – from looking at the holographic readout – appeared to be coordinates for another Disney World. Becoming worried of this, Michelle asked, "We aren't leaving _now_, are we?"

"No, I am." Brandy said. "You two deserve a break, so I'll leave you here until you're ready to go back. I'll go and look for Sean and Joanie."

Bella and Michelle both smiled and unanimously said, "Thank you, Brandy!"

"No problem. Just make sure you catch that little dude in twenty minutes – that's when the aura will wear off."

Michelle and Bella nodded in affirmation of Brandy's warning while she departed from the Hundred Acre Wood in a bright flash.

**Realm Zone – 1992**

A dark alley within the city of Agrabah suddenly grew bright as a ball of sparkling gold energy emerged within it. It transfigured into a human form and finally merged into Brandy herself, donning a black, hooded Arabian cloak. She looked at herself, impressed by her new threads, and shut off her wristband to conserve its energy. Gazing around the new scenery, she was shocked from the sight of the unnatural storm that was happening above the city, fiery explosions erupting from inside the dark gray clouds. Something was very wrong, and she had to guess it was because things were happening in the realm that were not supposed to be.

All of the sudden she heard a loud scream close nearby; it was the scream of a young woman. It was soon followed by the voice of Robin the Frog. "Let us go! We didn't do anything wrong! Joanie, what's happened to you?"

"My name is Dawn, _creature_! And you and your companions will keep silent if you know what is best for you!"

The voice of a character that Brandy was unfamiliar with sounded powerful and sinister, yet it was recognizable to Brandy. Slowly moving down the dark alley, Brandy peeked around the corner to see what was taking place in the area. In the street, a group of palace guards were guiding some beggars toward the palace. Amongst the beggars was Aladdin and Jasmine, but a closer glance revealed Sean, Ciciley, Kermit, Robin, Fozzie, Gonzo, Bobo, Bean, and a woman whom Brandy did not recognize. They were all led by a dark, menacing figure that – much to Brandy's immediate surprise – was Joanie.

"What the heck…?" Brandy muttered to herself.

Knowing she had to get to the bottom of whatever was going on, Brandy switched her wristband back on; it was a risky move, considering the very little power left in it. What Brandy did next only endangered that small power even more. She activated a "stealth mode," turning herself invisible in a matter of seconds. Using her invisibility as an advantage, Brandy closely followed the group as they traversed to the Sultan's palace. Not a single one of them detected her presence, which was good news for her – as long as the wristband was retaining power.

When the group arrived in the throne room of the palace, they were greeted by a surprised Sultan and Jafar. "Jasmine!" He exclaimed with a mixed reaction of joy and worry.

"Father!"

However, it was not _the_ Princess Jasmine that approached the Sultan and hugged him, but rather it was Princess Jasmine as Ciciley performing the action. It generated some bewildered reactions from the others, noticeably Jafar, the palace guards, Ciciley (in the guise of Jasmine), and especially the Sultan. Watching this, Brandy guessed right away that yet another case of reanimation had occurred between Princess Jasmine and Ciciley Thomas. She knew that this had to be a result of Bunsen Honeydew's _primitive_ machine, much like with Joanie.

Before circumstances became even weirder than they already were, Sean pulled Jasmine away from the Sultan. Free from her grip, the Sultan approached the woman who he thought was his _actual_ daughter, Ciciley. "Jasmine, are you alright? Dawn said she discovered you'd left the palace. Why?"

"Fath…" Ciciley could not longer play this charade any longer; the situation had become too dire to do so. "Look, dude…I'm _not_ your daughter. My name is Ciciley and _that_…" She pointed to Jasmine. "…is what I look like! Your _real_ daughter has switched places with me for some bizarre reason or another!"

The Sultan glanced back and forth between Ciciley and Jasmine, his head practically spinning from the rapid gestures it was making. "Wh…What? Is t-this…sorcery?"

"Indeed it is, Your Majesty," Dawn said, "but I can rectify it."

"You can?" The Sultan uttered.

"You can?" Both Jafar and Iago repeated.

Without saying a word, Dawn let actions speak louder than words. She gestured for the guards to place Jasmine and Ciciley side-by-side with each other and then walked right in front of them. Placing her hands on both of their heads, Dawn shut her eyes and focused long and hard. Brandy, quite the disbeliever of magic, observed the scene with little interest; however, what she had seen next made that interest grow to the point of suspicion.

Both Dawn's hands and the eyes of Ciciley and Jasmine glowed in an intense white hue. It was not long before Dawn's eyes started glowing as well. The transaction lasted for only a few seconds, and everyone observing the scene as it took place did so with looks of awe and even fear. After it was done, the glowing stopped and Dawn calmly stepped back from the two women. Ciciley and Jasmine held their heads in hand and groaned, squinting hard.

Sean cautiously approached Ciciley and asked, "Cici…are you okay?"

Ciciley looked down at the marbled floor they were standing on and saw her reflection on its surface. It was the reflection she was used to seeing in the twenty-three years she had been alive. She smiled and looked to her brother as she exclaimed, "I'm me again!"

"Hooray!" Bean cheered.

"Mazel tov!" Bobo yelled with applause.

Jasmine went to her father and embraced him again – this time as her true self. "Oh, Father! I've missed you so!"

"I am not sure what has happened, Jasmine, but I am certainly grateful to see you back." The Sultan then glanced to Dawn and added, "You are in my gratitude for bringing my daughter back to me."

"You can start by allowing Jafar and I to wed here in your throne room…_now_!" Dawn requested.

The request was met with much surprise from everyone in the room, including Ciciley, who was part of the conversation that took place earlier on the subject. "You said that you were going to hold it _tomorrow_," she said.

"That was a conversation that you had no place in!" Dawn told Ciciley, right before she ordered the guards. "Take them to the dungeon!"

"Oh, this is some…"

The woman who Brandy could not recognize was quickly silenced by the captain guard when he struck her upon the back of her head, knocking her out instantly. She felt into the waiting arms of the guard as he and his men led the prisoners out of the throne room. Aladdin showed some resistance against the guards, screaming to the Sultan, "But we didn't do anything wrong!"

Hearing his cries, Jasmine quickly told her father, "He's telling the truth! Father, you cannot let them be committed for nothing like this!"

"They held your daughter against her will, Your Highness." Dawn stated. "Such action should be met with crude punishment. I am simply keeping your daughter safe from the _evil forces_ we are dealing with."

The Sultan seemed at a loss for words. "B-But…they don't _appear_ evil…especially not those two bears and frogs."

Dawn moved in closer to the Sultan and Jasmine, glaring into both of their eyes with a hypnotic gaze that plagued hers. The blue hue of them began swirling rapidly, causing Jasmine and the Sultan's to do the same. Brandy watched closely and carefully, along with Jafar and Iago, as another display of magic (albeit _dark_ magic) took place before them. "There is nothing to worry about here. You _will_ focus on the wedding for Jafar and me. Is that understood?"

"The prisoners are no longer our concern." Jasmine mindlessly said.

"Your wedding is more important." The Sultan stated in the same manner. "We shall hold it here in the throne room without any further delay."

Seeing what just occurred, Jafar and Iago grew scared and cold.

"I think your new 'girlfriend' has surpassed your level of freakiness, Jafar." The parrot commented.

Jafar swallowed hard and admitted, "I fear you are correct in your presumption, my friend."

The situation had the same effect on Brandy; but, unlike Jafar and Iago, she intended on doing something about it. As quickly as possible, she pursued the guards and followed them as they took Sean and his friends to the palace's dungeon. If she was going to set things right in this world, she was certainly going to need their assistance to do so. With power from her wristband fading fast, she would need to resort to "old school" tactics…something she did not take much excitement in doing.


	27. Chapter Twenty Six: Realm Zone 1992

**Chapter Twenty-Six: Realm Zone – 1992**

Joie woke up with a snore, saliva trickling down from the right side of her mouth; she was heavily groggy, but she was able to recall what happened before losing consciousness. In an attempt to move her arms, Joie quickly realized that they were pinned to the wall that she was sitting against. Her arms were held above her head, forcing her to glance up to see her wrists shackled to the wall. Joie tried to budge through them, but she did not have enough strength to break through, still feeling very groggy.

"It's no use." A voice near her said, and she found Sean and the others sitting around her, shackled to the wall in the same matter – with the notable exception of Robin, Bean, and Abu, whose small bodies were shackled from the neck down. "They've got us clapped good in these."

Joie seemed rather furious to find herself in such a position, using that fury to free herself with another mighty attempt to break through the restraints…still no avail. "Argh! This is my _worst_ nightmare, man!"

"It's like a dream come true!" Gonzo enthusiastically said.

Joie shot a puzzling stare to the weirdo and his statement.

"We've got to get out of here." Ciciley uttered. "We've got to stop that wedding!"

"What does it matter? It's just the Sultan's royal vizier and some strange girl." Aladdin remarked.

The street urchin's depiction of Joanie greatly offended both Sean and Ciciley. "That 'strange girl' happens to be our _mother_, dude!" Ciciley retorted, much to the sudden disbelief of Aladdin, who said not another word afterward.

"So, uh…how exactly _are_ we getting out of this dungeon?" Fozzie asked.

No one answered immediately because no one was absolutely certain.

"I wish Sweetums were here." Robin said. "He would just break through our shackles and get us out of here in _no_ time."

"If Animal were here, he would eat through them in less time." Scooter added. "Then again, Animal would eat through the _whole_ palace!"

Joie grunted again, clearly on a mission to break through the shackles entirely by herself. Noticing her futile attempts, Sean told her, "Knock it off, Joie. You're going to hurt yourself doing that."

"Shows…what…you…know!" Joie exclaimed between grunts. "If…you were…my _real_…brother…you'd know…how strong I am…under…PRESSURE!"

_SNAP!_

After one intense tug, Joie's shackles popped loose, much to everyone's surprise. With a hearty chuckle, the heavily confident young woman told her companions, "Lesson Number One – never doubt mah skills!"

_SNAP! SNAP! SNAP!_

Soon after Joie made her confident statement, the shackles holding the others popped loose just the same without a hint of budging from them. The high confidence in Joie quickly dropped. "Okay…so I'm not the only one apparently."

Within seconds, a figure suddenly materialized at the center of the room, shocking everyone. Sean's shock subsided, however, as soon as he noticed that the figure was in fact Brandy. Trying to control his frustrations with her tardiness, Sean exclaimed, "Where have you been? I ought to kick your butt right now!"

"What did I do?" Brandy innocently inquired.

Watching how calmly Sean addressed the woman who just appeared in the dungeon, Kermit asked, "You know her?"

"Yeah, this is the 'Almighty Brandy' whom I've been blathering on about for hours." Sean replied.

Brandy waved to the group with half of a smile. "Nice to meet ya'll."

Ciciley glanced carefully at Brandy's face, seeming to have recognized it a little, even though she had never met the young woman; she reminded her much of someone that she already knew. She continued staring at her face while Sean helped her up and said, "We'll share intros later. Right now, we've got a wedding to stop."

"There's a secret entrance over here." Brandy indicated as she moved to a section of the cold stone walls of the dungeon and pressed against it, opening a secret passageway. When the others saw a grassy plain beyond the opening, they knew that Brandy had just revealed a secret passageway out of the dungeon.

Watching Brandy show the way out, Joie grinned with amusement. "Oh, I'm lovin' this girl already."

As the group followed Brandy out of the dungeon, Ciciley pulled Sean aside for a moment and quietly asked him, "Sean, does your 'friend' remind you of anyone we know?"

"We don't have time for a chat, lil' sis." Sean remarked. "Maybe we…"

"She looks _exactly_ like our mother…and even a little like _you_!" Ciciley exclaimed, still keeping her voice down so that the others could not hear.

Sean's focus went away from their current situation to what Ciciley just told him, raising a curious eyebrow. "What?"

Before the conversation could have gone any further, the main topic of the conversation – Brandy – stepped up back into the dungeon and beckoned the two siblings. "Hey, c'mon, y'all! Get a move on!" As she summoned them, Sean got a good glance at Brandy's face there and then, and he realized that Ciciley was right – Brandy had features that were a combination of himself and Joanie, but mostly the latter. Since meeting her in the ice cream parlor in Orlando, he had never really noticed until that very moment.

Refocusing on their task, Sean did his best to take his mind off the subject and follow Brandy outside of the palace with Ciciley. The group ended up near the front staircase leading to the Sultan's throne room, which had a more beefed-up security with at least seven guards standing at attention near the doorway. Kermit's face cringed once he noticed the guards. "Well…so much for taking the front door," the frog disapprovingly said.

"Can't we go in the same way Brandy came into the dungeon?" Robin inquired.

Brandy checked the power levels in her wristband – a red holographic "Warning" display projecting above it. Shaking her head, Brandy informed the others, "We'll have to go into this one cold, I'm afraid. I've barely got enough juice to get us back to reality."

"Great." Scooter said. "Easier to get out, but harder to get in."

Joie smiled while coyly popping her fingers. "Ya'll have gotta start takin' initiative!" She then moved away from the group and headed towards the staircase. Joie was as fast as a cheetah, climbing up the gigantic staircase in less than a minute. Once she reached the top, she confronted the palace guards head-on, taking each one down with a marvelous display of Muay Thai hand-to-hand combat. The others could barely keep up with her moves because they were so quick; not even Bruce Lee could match them.

All of the guards were down in a few seconds, and the entrance to the palace left a clear path for the group, which Joie gave the "O.K." on with a smile and wave. Having watched the unbelievable moves that Joie displayed, Sean turned to his sister and the Muppets and said, "Where did you find _her_?"

"Don't look at me – I just met the chick." Ciciley said.

The team moved swiftly up the staircase and joined Joie at the top before entering the palace. Moving further and further into the complex, the redder and hotter things started to look and feel. Arriving in the throne room, the group was met with a startling sight – Jafar and Dawn standing side-by-side near the Sultan's throne with the Sultan himself acting as a minister and Jasmine, standing close nearby, acting as a bridesmaid. There were torches lit all around the room, granting an intensely hot atmosphere that made even Jafar sweat; however, it was more fear into his sweating than heat.

The sight made Sean, Ciciley, and especially Robin very unsettled. "_Please_ tell me someone has a plan," Sean said through gritted teeth.

"Plain and simple…crash the wedding!" Joie boldly stated while smacking her right fist into the palm of her left hand.

Joie rushed into the throne room, running directly toward Jafar and Dawn. Sean tried to call her back, but she was already within a few feet from the "couple" before it was too late. When it seemed as if Joie's brash plan would have worked, Dawn – appearing to have sensed her presence _long_ before she made a move – turned her sights away from the Sultan and focused on Joie with an outstretched arm. Joie suddenly froze in place and then hovered six feet in the air before Dawn; with one slight gesture, the wicked shield of Joanie Navarro sent the young woman flying across the throne room and smacking her into a wall.

Once Joie was out of the way, Dawn soon noticed her companions standing at the entrance to the throne room. Briefly turning to the Sultan with a cold stare, she uttered, "Pause." And on that single word, the Sultan froze from his duties as minister, standing where he was and staring off into space. Dawn then briskly strode her way to Sean, Brandy, Ciciley, Aladdin, Abu, and the Muppets in a manner that was clearly threatening.

In a panicked state, Brandy handed something over to Sean and said, "When you get the open opportunity, put _this _over her head!"

Sean glanced at the object she had given him and noticed it to be one of her headbands – the same one, in fact, that they got Joanie to wear when she took the persona of Ariel. Remembering the consequences to having the device worn by Joanie last time, Sean negatively shook his head. "No way! That's what got us into this mess in the first place!"

"You've gotta _trust_ me on this!" Brandy pleaded.

"LOOK OUT!"

Fozzie's warning came just as the group noticed Dawn tearing away a chunk of the floor telepathically and hurling it towards them. In just the nick of time, the group dodged out of harm's way, letting the chunk of marble and earth wedge into the entranceway and blocking any possible exit. While in the process of saving his own life, Sean lost his grip on the headband and let it rolled across the floor, stopping near the unconscious Joie. As he got to his feet to retrieve the item, he heard the screams of Kermit, Fozzie, Gonzo, Bobo, Scooter, and Bean nearby. Turning his head, he noticed Dawn using her telekinesis to juggle the six Muppets in midair – the only Muppet whose screams were of joy turned out to be Gonzo's.

"Ha, ha, ha! This is _so_ cool!" The weirdo shouted.

"Glad to see one of us is having so much fun!" A disgruntled Scooter cried.

In the midst of her "fun" with the other Muppets, Dawn was soon confronted by Robin, who begged with teary eyes. "Joanie! Please don't do this! This is _not_ you!"

Unfortunately, Dawn did not answer to the name of her true self; however, she did take notice of the tiny frog's presence in the throne room and used more of her unimaginable power to send him into the air just like the other Muppets – except he went even higher. Robin's small frame floated forty feet into the air and practically touched the ceiling; he cried for Kermit the entire time he was in the air, unable to move or stop himself from going any higher. It seemed in Dawn's mission to try to get the frog higher than he was, as Robin's form repeatedly smacked against the ceiling until the small frog fell unconscious from the blows.

Seeing what Dawn was doing to Robin, Brandy grew very angry; she turned to Aladdin, who was picking himself off the floor after having dodged the chunk of floor, and made a command. "Follow my lead!" The two then worked together in running towards Dawn, who was distracted from the Muppets she was controlling, and tackled her to the floor, pinning her down.

Kermit, Gonzo, Fozzie, Bobo, Scooter and Bean – who were all only a few feet from the floor – fell and landed atop of one another. Robin's unconscious form fell its forty-foot distance from the ceiling of the throne room, his body moving lifelessly through the air. Ciciley, quickly taking notice of the tiny Muppet's plight, had positioned herself beneath his falling form with her hands cupped. Within a flash, Robin fell comfortably into Ciciley's hands like a catcher with a baseball. "Gotcha!" Ciciley said with a smile, but that smile soon faded once she realized that the small frog was not moving at all. "Robin?"

Meanwhile, Brandy and Aladdin were forcibly keeping Dawn pinned down to the floor. In doing so, Brandy cried to Sean, "Get the headband! Do it _now_!"

Sean went to the object as it continued sitting beside the unconscious Joie; unfortunately, before he had a change to grab it, someone else got their hands on it first. To Sean's dismay, Jafar was the one who had retrieved the item before him, glancing upon it curiously. While watching Jafar with the headband, Sean heard two heavy _thuds_ and turned to see Brandy and Aladdin lying far away from Dawn at opposite sides of the throne room; he could only assume that she hurled them aside with another display of her remarkable power. The powerful woman then stoically got back on her feet as if nothing ever happened.

Sean's attention was redirected back to Jafar when he heard the character address him in a very desperate manner. "Tell me…will this device _stop_ her?"

It came as a surprise to hear Jafar ask such a question, but seeing how terrified him and Iago were on Dawn somehow made sense to it. Sean nodded his head in response to his question and uttered, "Yes…it will."

Jafar wickedly smiled, gazing upon the headband once more. "That's all I need to know."

At first, Sean expected Jafar to throw the headband to the floor and smashed it with his staff, or something to that extreme. Instead, the royal vizier hid the item behind his back while approaching Dawn, who turned to face him with the same emotionless face that she had been masked with the entire time. "My love…seeing the way you have disposed of these cretins has allowed me to see how much we really are meant to be together. With our combined powers, I believe we shall rule Agrabah and possibly even the world!"

"I am pleased you see so, my love." Dawn said.

"Of course, a ruler such as you deserves her own crown." On that cue, Jafar revealed the headband in his hand and easily placed it atop of Dawn's head. Dawn did not make any sudden moves; she kept herself open to the trap without even knowing it to be one.

Brandy weakly sat up just in time to see the transaction take place. As soon as Jafar had placed the headband over Dawn's head, Brandy touched a section of her wristband that activated a function with the headband itself. Once activated, Dawn began screaming immensely in agony, falling to her knees while clutching the sides of her head. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head, exposing total whiteness in her eyes. The headband electrically sparked gold all around Dawn's head, making it unsafe to be touched even by Dawn herself – who made that attempt only to send sheering pain to her fingertips.

Soon the painful action ended and left Dawn collapsing to the floor; however, she did not fall unconscious afterward. She rapidly blinked, her eyes searching for some sort of familiarity, and finally found the lifeless Robin lying in the hands of Ciciley. A look of terror appeared over her face – the first sign of emotion that she had displayed for some time – and her eyes even welded up with tears. A remorseful voice emerged from within the young woman upon uttering the name of the tiny frog. No longer was she "Dawn;" she had reverted back to her true persona of Joanie Navarro.

_BOOM! BOOM! KRACK!_

Flashes shined through the windows of the palace before a chunk of the ceiling broke free and fell to the floor, scattering debris everywhere; thankfully, no one was in the way of it. The Sultan and Jasmine awakened from their hypnotic states, looking around to see the palace crumbling around them. Tremors soon emerged and sections of the floor had risen and lowered unexpectedly. Jasmine had nearly fallen victim to another piece of the ceiling that had fallen until Aladdin rushed to her aid and saved the princess.

"Are you okay?" The street urchin asked her.

Enthralled by his heroism, Princess Jasmine said with a smile, "Yes…thank you." Her lovely smile made the street urchin equally charmed; unfortunately, the chaos around them brought the moment they shared to an abrupt end.

"Brandy! What's going on?" Sean asked.

"It's coming from Bunsen's machine." Brandy responded. "It's ripping this reality apart because of the instability!"

Her explanation on the occurrence greatly confused Sean. "Instability from what?" He then seemed to figure it out for himself before she had a chance to answer. "From us? _We're_ causing this?" He shook his head negatively and added, "This has never happened before! I mean…"

"Nothing can ever happen the same way as before when _we_ interfere." Brandy stated. "That should've been the disclaimer to Bunsen's machine."

Hearing Brandy, Sean turned to Joanie, whose experience in the realm was the greatest of the changes created within it, becoming a character that was not supposed to have existed there. His eyes then shifted to Aladdin, Jasmine, Abu, Sultan, Jafar, and Iago – each of whom would never witness their fates happen the same as it had in the animated feature. Even though they were fictional characters, their genuine fears made it feel as if they were real people watching their lives come to an end altogether.

"Is there anyway to stop it?" Sean asked Brandy with a sense of hope for the characters.

Brandy shook her head in response. "I'm sorry. There's nothing I can do."

She then punched some holographic letters and numbers projected from her wristband and engaged the reanimation sequence, taking her, Sean, Ciciley, Joanie, Joie, and the Muppets out of the realm. As he watched all of their bodies beginning to disappear amidst the chaos that was unfolding in Agrabah, Sean watched the _Aladdin_ characters hopelessly watch their world crumble around them. The experience gave a new insight on what it was that Bunsen had created – a machine that creates life from fiction…and is also capable in taking it away as well. The notion brought a great deal of fear and anger over Sean as he and the others disappeared from a world that ceased to exist after their departure.


	28. Chapter Twenty Seven: Time Zone 2010

**Chapter Twenty-Seven: Time Zone – 2010**

Joanie had not moved an inch from the bedside the entire time Robin laid motionless in the only bed available in the Muppet Theater. Scooter, Kermit, and Fozzie found it in the prop room, one of the props used for a recent skit that was performed. The bed was the only suitable item to provide some comfort for the heavily wounded small frog inside of the theater's attic. While Joanie watched Robin the entire time she was up there, tears streaming from her eyes, thinking about the reason he was there – her horrible actions as "Dawn." She was completely aware of all that happened during her time as the evil sorceress, but she was unable to control herself…stop herself from hurting the one person she cared about most.

A lone figure soon entered the area – it was her son, Sean. He saw her watching Robin intently, hoping for some sort of awakening to emerge from the small frog soon. Unbeknownst to Joanie, she had been waiting for that miracle for nearly an hour by that time. The reason Sean had arrived in the attic was to alert her of that fact, but he could not bring himself to do so. Instead of bringing it up, he decided to speak of something different: "Brandy's getting Kim and Meagan fixed up right now. I'll admit that the headband isn't as efficient as…whatever it was you did as Dawn was…but it gets the job done."

Joanie did not say a word to him; she remained staring upon Robin's motionless form. The sight was depressing to Sean, and he could not think of anything enlightening to say on behalf of Robin's situation. "We'll find a way to help him," he told his young mother, "there are plenty of great doctors here in 2010 that we can take him to and…"

"You _really_ don't get it, do you?" Joanie uttered, speaking to him for the first time since returning from Agrabah. "_I'm_ the reason he's laying here right now. _I'm_ the one who was responsible for that place being destroyed." She put her head into her hands and cried, "I'm…I'm not sure what I'm becoming anymore."

Hearing the agony that his young mother was going through, Sean knew for certain that he had to say something to bring her spirits up. He walked up beside her at Robin's bedside and placed an arm around her. "I know what you'll become…my mother." Joanie looked to him with teary, hopeful eyes. "I'm sorry that I never told you who I actually was when we first met."

"Why _didn't_ you tell me?" Joanie asked him. "Is there something about me in the future that made you ashamed to be my son?"

Sean shook his head. "No, no. It was just…we just never shared much of a bond. Growing up, you were always attached to your work here in the Muppet Theater than you ever were with me. It didn't help being your only son either." He swallowed hard and then added, "Though…despite however far apart we were as mother and son…you always cared about me more than Kim, Meagan, or Ciciley…you watched over me just as much as my father watched over them."

Listening to his story, Joanie seemed to have understood Sean more than she had before. "I'm sorry things ended up that way for you…but, if there's anything to come out of this crazy adventure, it's that I've met you. You're living proof that I have a _great_ future ahead of me…and you give me more hope than I could use right now." She leaned forward and kissed him on the forehead, which embarrassed him a little.

"Glad no one was around to see _that_." Sean muttered.

Joanie chuckled. "Young or old, there's nothing wrong with getting a kiss from your mother. It's a lot of magic in it. It's almost like a healing touch."

Hearing her words, Sean appeared to have been enlightened. "Wait a minute. I think I know how we can help Robin."

"You mean a kiss?" Joanie caught on. "Get serious, Sean."

"I _am_ serious." Sean said. "You showed that you had learned quite a bit of magic while in Agrabah…well, what if you could use that magic to save Robin?"

Although the idea sounded incredibly ridiculous to her, Joanie admitted there was some possibility in it. She did not want to pass on any ideas that would help her small, wounded friend. Joanie looked long and hard at Robin, focusing on one thing – making him feel better; she then leaned in over his small, motionless frame and gave him a kiss on the left side of his tiny head, which seemed to be just the size of her pink, glistening lips. While the kiss was given, a strange occurrence took place: Robin's entire body began to glow in a golden hue; he had done so for a few seconds before Joanie moved her lips away, and he stopped glowing.

Slowly, Robin began to open his eyes, seeing Joanie and Sean standing beside him and the bed. Opening his mouth, his whispered, "J-Joanie? Is that you?"

Joanie laughed through the tears of joy streaming down her face. "Yeah…it's me, sweetheart."

Sean smiled over the sudden recovery of the little frog. "I'll go let everyone else in on the great news." He then turned to leave, but he stopped once he was face-to-face with Tracy, who nearly scared him. "Tracy! You're awake!"

"Indeed I am." Tracy calmly remarked with a smile.

"Are you feeling alright?" Sean asked.

"Sure." Tracy replied, still maintaining a calm demeanor. "Never felt better. Excuse me." She walked around him and approached Joanie and Robin.

As he watched Tracy interact with his mother and the frog, Sean could not help but to notice something "off" about his cousin; she did not appear to be traumatized in any way after the accident in Bunsen's lab, which left her unconscious for nearly five hours. The super calm attitude that Tracy displayed was even more suspicious to Sean; although his cousin was always a cool-headed individual, a common human being would not have been so calm after what Tracy went through. Rather than pretty any more thought into the matter, Sean just left it alone and decided to deal with it later.

Sean moved downstairs and headed into the backstage right area – where he was suddenly greeted by practically everyone, including Kimberly and Meagan (who both were rubbing their temples after Brandy returned their normal personas) and Bella and Michelle (who were brought back from the _Winnie the Pooh_ realm by Brandy after her return from the _Aladdin_ realm). All were there except for Bunsen and Beaker, who remained downstairs in the lab. Surprised to see his friends and family gathered in the area, Sean stated, "Well, I'm glad you all decided to show up before I did."

"We _need_ to talk." Brandy said.

"But, first…" Kermit stepped forward and approached Sean. "Is Robin going to be okay?"

Sean smiled. "He's perfectly fine now, Kermit. He's upstairs talking with Joanie and Tracy."

Kermit nodded, just as Brandy stated, "We need to talk about Bunsen and his machine. Apparently, it's reached to a point now to where it can wipe out these worlds it has created. That pretty much makes it a 'Doomsday Device.' It can be hazardous to both our world and the world of Disney."

"And I don't know about y'all, but I ain't interested about bein' anywhere _near_ somethin' that has 'doomsday' in its name." Clifford declared.

"Same here." Fozzie agreed.

"Yeah, you said it." Gonzo acknowledged as well.

Clifford's sentiment appeared to have resonated throughout the room, as everyone collectively agreed with what he said. Hearing them all, Sean's curiosity and suspicions began to grow. "So what are you all saying?" He did not want to bring himself to make the guess that came out of his mouth afterward, but he could not help but to assume aloud. "Are you giving up?"

Most of the group did not want to admit it, but Joie appeared to be free with doing so. "Shoot! I am!"

"Yep. Pretty much." Gina added.

Seeing the two women, Sean shook his head negatively and said, "I'm sorry, but…aren't you two supposed to be finding your brother – another version of me – somewhere out there?" He then clarified, "I'm talking about finding my grandmother…Joanie's mother…Diana Navarro! She's still out there somewhere, waiting for us to rescue her! And you just want to _quit_?"

"If memory serves, you never wanted to be part of any of this in the first place." Kim uttered. "You just wanted to go to _Disney World_ and forget about getting involved."

"I did," Sean admitted, "but then I got to see just how bad Joanie's situation was when I nearly lost her. And I know she's got to be feeling the way I did right now. I know we can find her. I just…I need you all to…"

_POW! POW! POW! POW!_

Loud thuds accompanied the sounds of explosions from upstairs. Everyone stopped to look upward as grime from the ceiling fell and landed on a few faces, mostly Rizzo's and Gonzo's. Spitting out the bits of grimes that fell in his mouth, Rizzo muttered, "Either Crazy Harry's been practicin' new explosions without us knowin', or somebody's doin' roof work."

There then came a series of thuds that echoed within the area between backstage right and the stage, which was where the stairs leading to the attic were, meaning something or someone was falling down them. The group went to the area just in time to see Joanie falling down the old, wooden stairs and collapsing at the foot with a sickening thud. Joanie's body was wracked with pain and even smoking a little as she laid on her right side. Seeing how she fell, Sean had to ask her immediately, "Joanie, are you okay?"

All ears then heard the cries of a small voice that accompanied the sound of mild, steady footsteps coming down the steps. "Let me go! You let me go right now!" Everyone soon saw that it was Robin crying out, and the person coming down the stairs was in fact Tracy, who was carrying the fidgety frog under her right arm while having a devilish smile upon her face.

Seeing that it was Tracy, Sean then asked, "What are you doing?"

Joanie groaned as she quickly told the others. "It's _not_ Tracy! It's _her_!"

"Her who?" Kermit exclaimed, suddenly puzzled of what was transpiring before them all.

"Queen Grimhilde!"

The others glanced in Tracy's direction as she glared upon them all with sinister eyes. It was clear at that moment of what Joanie had alerted them – it was _not_ Tracy standing upon the stairs, but the "Evil Queen" from _Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs_ inhabiting the form of Tracy.

Looking upon the Queen, Brandy perfectly deduced the real severity of the problem: "If the Queen's consciousness is here in the real world…then that could only mean Tracy's is…" Her clear blue eyes widened in shock from her sudden realization.


	29. Chapter Twenty Eight: Realm Zone 1937

**Chapter Twenty-Eight: Realm Zone – 1937**

Tracy could not stop staring at her hands the entire time she was standing within Queen Grimhilde's private chamber…as Queen Grimhilde herself. The situation was a nightmare coming true and all that she could do in response to it was scream. Of course, Tracy was not screaming in _her_ voice, but that of the Queen; it terrified even Tracy herself as it escaped from her (the Queen's) mouth, so she stopped immediately. Once the screams ceased, Tracy suddenly heard a hallowed, deep, and eerie voice address her…

"The howls of terror are not your solution. To escape your prison of flesh requires more intuition."

Turning to the direction that she heard the eerie voice speak from, Tracy soon realized that it was the voice of the Queen's "Magic Mirror" that was addressing her. It was heavily odd for Tracy to be interacting with a _real_ Disney character, but she had to speak with the mirror in order to get answers to her sudden problem. "What's happened to me?" The Queen's voice came out of her, sounding uncharacteristically terrified – mainly because it was Tracy that was so.

"Her Majesty has discovered a secret path to your world…seeking out the fairest one that has her purled."

Tracy tried to guess how the queen discovered the real world from within the Disneyverse, and her deduction led her to one conclusion: "Bunsen's machine…something weird happen to it before I winded up in here…it had to be _her_ that caused it to happen."

"Your intuition is strong, for you are far from wrong." The mirror complimented.

"Yeah, thanks." Tracy acknowledged before coming into realization. "Wait a minute. This is where Joanie said Aunt Diana ended up." She then quickly turned to the Magic Mirror and asked, "Can you show me where Diana Navarro is?"

The image of the Magic Mirror's face soon dispersed as swirling purple and gray mist appeared, and an image within a dungeon area soon transpired. Within the dungeon, there were two unconscious figures kept within two separate cells; they belonged to Snow White and Belle. Seeing the two Disney princesses, Tracy was surprised and confused of why they were there; however, she did not spend too long pondering on the matter as she had soon spotted Diana within _her_ cell, pacing back and forth. Tracy was beyond delighted seeing her aunt, who she had not seen in years, standing there in the cell and looking just the way she did when Tracy last saw her.

"Wow. She hasn't changed one bit." Tracy muttered.

Soon another figure entered the image – the Evil Queen's guard – and approached Diana's cell. Diana walked right up to the bars and inquired to the guard, "What's going on?"

"I'm getting you out of the castle." The guard told her. "I believe the Queen will put you to sleep just as she has the other two maidens."

Diana smiled at the guard's chivalry, which was practically dead from where she came from. "Oh. You're a sweet man…but I can't leave without first knowing if my daughter will come back for me."

"Your daughter would be brave to come to this place, but foolish as well." The guard informed. "The Queen is more relentless than I have ever seen her before, if not completely mad. Talk of other worlds…other fairest ones that she intends to end…not even I know when her insanity will end."

Diana took heed in the guard's warnings as he unlocked the door to her cell and freed her of the shackles that she was restrained in. With the guard guiding her, Diana escaped from the dungeon; however, once she was halfway out of the area, she looked back to Snow White and Belle. "Wait a sec! We can't just leave _them_ here!"

"I am afraid their fates have already been sealed." The guard declared. "Quickly, we must move."

Watching Diana depart from the dungeon with the guard, Tracy grew alert from the sight. "Oh, no! I've gotta stop her!" She then rushed out of the chamber as fast as the Queen's legs would allow; surprisingly, the Queen was quite fast when she wanted to be.

* * *

Diana and the Queen's guard emerged out of the castle and onto the courtyard outside. The two escapees were just about to bolt for the woods until they heard a voice cry, "Aunt Diana! Stop!" They turned to see that it was Queen Grimhilde, emerging from the castle herself with a pleading look that Diana had found to be completely out of character for a villainess like her.

"We have been spotted!" The guard exclaimed and then instructed to Diana, "Go! Run as far as you can! I will hold her off!"

"Wait!" The Queen cried. "It's me! Your niece! Tracy!"

Upon hearing that name come out of the Queen's voice, Diana did not move an inch from where she stood; instead she started to approach Grimhilde with a stunned look upon her face. "Tracy?"

The guard soon held Diana back, preventing her from taking another step toward the Queen. "No, it's a trick!"

"How the heck is it a trick?" Diana hysterically inquired.

"Her Magic Mirror must have revealed facts about you…things the Queen can use to prevent you from ever leaving the castle like she is at this moment."

Listening to the guard, Diana realized that he was right in his assumption; of course, that did not keep her from quizzing the Queen just to be certain. "Alright. If you _are_ my niece, then you wouldn't mind answering this…" She then asked the Queen a question in Swahili, a language born out of Africa – a place that she knew Joanie and Tracy had been prior to the insanity that she was involved in.

After the question was asked, the Queen had done something that neither Diana or the guard saw coming – she responded in Swahili. Diana understood exactly what was said to her, but the guard did not; curiously, he asked, "What did you ask her?"

Diana smiled and revealed, "I asked what her favorite Disney movie is."

The guard raised a confused eyebrow. "Diz...nee…move…ee?"

Leaving the guard to figure out what took place, Diana approached Tracy and warmly embraced her. "I've missed you so much, Aunt Diana!" Tracy said with tears falling from the eyes of the woman whose body she had possessed.

After embracing her, Diana looked up and down at Tracy, shaking her head in disbelief. "What happened to you, kiddo? How the heck did you end up here as the Evil Queen?"

Tracy shook the Queen's head in the same manner. "It's a long story, Aunt Diana…one that would take _a ton_ of chapters to tell."

* * *

Tracy brought her aunt and the Queen's guard back to the private chamber where she revealed all of the details that followed after Diana was imprisoned within the _Snow White_ realm. The things that Diana heard from Tracy sounded like something out of a bad science fiction film, including the fact that Bunsen's machine transported Joanie and the Muppets thirty-three years into the future and that the "Tracy" she was hearing all of this from was the one from the year 2010. As soon as Tracy's story concluded to present time (or a reasonable facsimile thereof), Diana felt as if her head were to explode from all of the craziness that happened while she was imprisoned in the Queen's castle.

"Whoa." Diana uttered. "As Joanie would always say, that is one _groovy_ scene if I ever heard one." She then looked to Tracy and inquisitively asked, "They still say that in 2010?"

Hesitating with her response a little, Tracy informed, "Well…let's just say there are too many to keep up with myself, Aunt Diana."

The guard himself appeared surprised from all that Tracy explained, glancing to the Magic Mirror and concluding, "So the Queen hasn't gone _completely_ mad, it seems. Her stories of other worlds beyond this one are true."

"Is there any way we can see what's going on in _our_ world now?" Diana hopefully inquired.

Tracy turned to the mirror and asked, "Can we?"

"The place that you wish to see…can certainly be offered to thee." The Mirror answered. "Behold…"

The Mirror's face once again changed to a swirling mist as Tracy and Diana looked on with much zeal, while the guard looked on with great curiosity. As soon as the mist settled, the group was met with the shocking sight of an intense confrontation taking place between their friends and family and the Queen, who was masquerading as Tracy, in the real world. The Queen was practically ravaging her way through the Muppet Theater, using evil magic to hurl a group of people whom Tracy and Diana did not recognize into the empty seats closest to the stage before focusing on the others. Sean, Kimberly, Ciciley, and Meagan retreated into Bunsen's lab with the Muppets and a wounded Joanie. Upon seeing the wounded Joanie, a nervous hand went to Diana's mouth, signifying the horror that went through her as she helplessly observed the scene.

Buzz Lightyear soon emerged into the scene, hearing the commotion from inside the dressing room where he kept watch over Beast, and confronted the Evil Queen. The space ranger gave her a warning to cease her attacks by pointing his laser directly at her head. Robin, who was being held under the Queen's arm, wisely informed Buzz that it was not Tracy who he was warning, but the Evil Queen from _Snow White_ possessing Tracy. Although Buzz did not understand what the small frog was telling him, he knew whoever the woman was posed as a threat to everyone inside the theater.

Observing Buzz's impressive, high-tech suit, the Queen chanted a magic spell that suddenly caused the suit to malfunction on the space ranger. Buzz's wings activated without his command, and he rocketed upward, crashing through the ceiling and ending up inside the attic. Chunks of debris rained down in front of the Queen before she walked across and entered Bunsen's lab. Once the Queen was within the lab, Bunsen bravely stood before her and stated, "Stay where you are! If you take one more step, I'll have my assistant Beaker set a miscalculation over the machine that will activate an 'event horizon'!"

Bunsen sounded extremely nervous on his threat, and Beaker was equally so when he meeped in the same manner while standing near the computer. Because of the nervousness within the two Muppet scientists, the Queen grinned as she motioned to the computer and uttered another chant that caused it and all of the other equipment in the room to explode in a hail of fiery sparks. A massive tremor then came over the lab as the Magic Gateway's chamber door exploded outward, flying into Sean and knocking him unconscious to the floor. Joanie cried out her son's name and attempted to go to his aide, but the Queen kept her from doing so by hurling her to the floor. Having already sustained major injuries, Joanie fell unconscious herself.

An intense white light emerged from the exposed chamber; upon seeing it, the Queen used her magic to hurl Kermit, Fozzie, Gonzo, Bean, Scooter, and Kimberly into it. Meagan, Ciciley, Rizzo, Bobo, and Clifford were soon flung into the light as well, disappearing instantly. Witnessing what the Queen was doing to their friends, Bunsen and Beaker tried to stop her by grabbing onto her arms. The attack by the two Muppet scientists led to Robin's freedom from the Queen's grasp, and the tiny frog escaped from the lab before he was banished from the real world as well. The Queen physically threw Bunsen and Beaker off of her, sending them smacking into the floor and dropping into unconsciousness just as Joanie and Sean were.

The Queen finally focused her attention on the Magic Gateway and uttered a long chant that consumed the mechanism in strange flames that melted it away, extinguishing the light that was emitting from the chamber. With the deed done, the Queen departed from the ravaged lab with a sinister smile. Tracy and Diana watched on the mirror as the fiery sparks from the destroyed equipment grew into larger bits of flames that scattered through the lab, consuming the wooden staircase leading into the area; thankfully, the flames only ravaged it partially, still allowing some access. The image of the staircase was the last thing that they saw before the Magic Mirror returned to its normal form – his emotionless face staring back at them.

Feeling cold after witnessing the horrifying scene from the real world, Tracy and Diana turned to each other, both women scared senseless. Not before long did they heard a weird noise within the chamber, followed by the sound of bodies hitting the cold, hard floor. Tracy, Diana, and the Queen's guard turned to find the very same people who were sent through the Magic Gateway by the Evil Queen within her private chamber in the _Snow White_ realm. Kimberly, Ciciley, Meagan, and the Muppets were all there, alive and well yet slightly beaten-up from their rocky arrival.

Pleased to see that everyone made it safely through the Gateway and arrived in that particular realm, Tracy and Diana smiled; however, their smiles vanished once they realized there was no way back to the real world for any of them with the Gateway destroyed.


	30. Chapter Twenty Nine: Time Zone  Unknown

**Chapter Twenty-Nine: Time Zone – Unknown**

Brandy slowly regained consciousness after being thrown into the empty seats near the stage in the auditorium, having landed awkwardly in one of them; her upper body slid in between the cushions, trapping her arms and keeping her in a bent-forward position. Squirming a little, Brandy attempted to free herself from the uncomfortable position she was in, but to no avail. It was not long before she felt something grab her hips and pull her out of the spot with great force. Turning to her rescuer, Brandy noticed it was Joie, who regained consciousness herself along with Gina, Bella, and Michelle shortly before Brandy had.

"You okay, kid?" Joie asked her.

Brandy nodded. "I'm fine. Are you girls alright?"

"We're fine." Michelle confirmed with a nod.

After seeing that the five of them were in one piece, Brandy grew concerned for the others, including Sean. Just as she thought of him, Brandy suddenly spotted Sean and Joanie running across the stage and both failing to notice Brandy, Joie, Gina, Bella, or Michelle standing within the auditorium. As the two entered backstage right, Brandy could hear Sean ask his mother from the area, "Wait a minute! Wait a minute! Are you…are you alright?"

"That music…it's bringing back so many memories. I…I can't exactly explain it. Just…Just trust me, okay?"

Brandy then heard the stage door open and one of the two (presumably Joanie) leave the building. Curious to know what transpired while she and the girls were unconscious, Brandy headed onto the stage and dashed backstage right with Joie, Gina, Bella, and Michelle following. The girls found Sean standing in the doorway, looking out into an empty back alley with a puzzled look on his face. Curious to know what happened, Brandy asked Sean, "Where did Joanie go?"

Sean shook his head and answered, "I wish I knew. One minute, I'm watching her leave the Theater, and then…she's gone!"

"Well, where _did_ she go?" Gina elaborated on Brandy's question.

"That's what I'm telling you…she vanished out of thin air." Sean stated as clearly as possible. "She stepped one foot out of the building and disappeared right in front of me."

Hearing this, Brandy turned to her wristband and brought up a holographic display that appeared somewhat static, despite having been fully charged prior to the "incident" with the Evil Queen. Glancing at the see-through, blue-and-purple data display, Brandy squinted closely and uttered, "Oh, man…"

"What? What's up?" Joie asked.

Brandy paused for a brief time and answered, "Well…amongst other things, the Theater is currently surrounded by an unknown form of energy that my computer isn't able to detect…it could've been what took Joanie."

Sean nodded, appearing to understand the possibility. "With that magical transformation she underwent in the _Aladdin_ world, I wouldn't be too surprised if this 'energy' might be the same as whatever gave her those magic powers." He then shook his head and added, "Bunsen's machine really did a number of everything and everyone around it. My sisters are gone, Kermit and the other Muppets are gone, and now my mother's gone. Who knows how this might affect the timeline…"

Seeing how distraught Sean was, Brandy glanced at her other hand – the one that was not bound with a metal wristband. She sighed and told him, "I'm your daughter." Hearing her words, the heads of Joie, Gina, Bella, and Michelle snapped up in surprise – more from Joie and Gina than Bella and Michelle.

Sean glanced at her, caught off guard by what she just said. "What?"

"I might as well come out and say it now because I may never have a chance again, but…my name is Brandy _Thomas_…I'm your daughter from twenty-seven years in the future."

Sean did the math in his head and estimated on the year. "2037." He smiled upon Brandy and remarked, "To be honest, I kind of figured you were."

Brandy's eyebrows raised in surprise. "Really? For how long?"

"Ciciley caught on back when we were in Agrabah – told me that you look a lot like Joanie and me as well." Sean informed. "I guess the 'color barrier' switches each generation." His statement made Brandy chuckle a little. "What I _can't_ figure out is why you never told me?" The question he put upon his future daughter gave him a sudden sense of déjà vu; it was close to the same one that Joanie asked him not very long ago.

"I just didn't want it to affect _my_ existence by telling you who I was and where I came from." Brandy opened up. "I guess it really doesn't matter, after seeing how you and Grandmama connected."

Listening to Brandy's reasons for keeping the truth that she was his daughter a secret, Sean felt more than determined to get Joanie back to the Muppet Theater from wherever it was that she vanished to. Without warning, he took a step past the doorway and onto the concrete outside, much to the shock of Brandy and the other girls. Brandy screamed for him to wait and stop before his foot touched the outdoor ground, but it was already down before she said anything. Even Sean expected something strange to occur, such as vanishing from sight himself; however, after a few seconds, he and the ladies realized that he was still standing where he was.

"Dude! Don't scare us like that again!" Gina exclaimed.

"Sorry." Sean uttered. "I know Joanie still might be somewhere here in Orlando, and I'm going to find her…for both of our sakes." He placed a comforting hand on Brandy's shoulder while openly volunteering for the task that he placed upon himself and then ran out of sight.

Brandy tried to call her father back, but he was already away before she had a chance. Watching Sean make his departure, Michelle smiled and said, "Your father is one brave man, Brandy."

"He should've waited before I gave him the other bit of news I discovered." Brandy stated.

"What other bit of news?" Joie inquired.

Brandy sighed in grief and replied, "We're _not_ in Orlando anymore. We're in Anaheim."

"California?" Joie yelled in shock. "How did we get all the way out here?"

"It has to be another side affect from whatever Bunsen's machine has done now." Brandy presumed. "But that's not the _worst_ of it…"

Gina rolled her eyes in aggravation. "I'm almost afraid to ask, but…what _is_ 'the worst of it?'"

"According to my computer, we're in another version of Anaheim, California."

"Another version?" Bella uttered.

Joie added to the confusion by saying, "As in…?"

"Another dimension." Brandy clarified.

* * *

After running a few blocks away from the Muppet Theater, things did not start to look familiar whatsoever to Sean. Most of the street names appeared differently than when he last remembered them; many of them were Californian street names rather than Floridian. Soon the streets were not the only things that became unrecognizable; several places were different as well. It was not long before Sean witnessed the biggest difference of all…

Without even realizing where he was, Sean came directly across what looked to the entrance into the Disneyland Resort; he would have first thought that he misread the sign as "Disneyland" and not "Disney World," but the entrance looked exactly as it appeared in Anaheim, California. As he stood awestruck at the colorful Disneyland Resort sign with many models of Mickey Mouse-shaped balloons "hovering" over it, several people passed by him, walking under the sign and into the path leading straight to the intersection of the _Disneyland Park_, _Disney California Adventure_, and _Downtown Disney_. Eventually, three young blondes stopped as they passed by Sean, and one of them happily exclaimed, "Sean! You're here!"

Quickly noticing that the woman was addressing him, he looked to her and asked, "Do I know you?"

"Now what way is that to talk to your dear old sister, man?" The woman remarked, suddenly taking him by the hand and leading him into the Disneyland Resort. "C'mon! We're goin' to miss the cast member preview while it's still happenin'!"

The other two blondes followed Sean and the one who appeared to be the oldest amongst them. The youngest blonde of the three, who looked to be a few years younger than Sean, soon curiously asked him, "Hey, why aren't you wearin' your tag?"

Sean realized what she meant when he spotted a nametag pinned on her shirt that read the name of "Aubrie." Glancing amongst the other two blondes, he noticed their names to be "Danny" and "Feather." Their nametags signified that they were cast members of the Disneyland Resort, which they believed Sean to have been as well. "Uh…I left it home." It was a lame lie, but it was definitely a believable one for the three women.

Feather, the one blonde who was practically pulling Sean's arm off, simply stated in response to the situation, "It's cool. We're invited to have friends and family anyway."

"Man! I am pumped about this new ride!" Danny said before nudging to Sean and asking, "How about you, bro?"

Sean attempted to mask his confusion with excitement. "Um, yeah! I'm really stoked about it." Using the mock excitement to his advantage, he then requested, "Hey, do one of you have a map of the park? I just want to get a good look at it before we show up at the gate."

"I've got one." Aubrie handed the Disneyland Park brochure over to Sean, and he unfolded it to look over the map of the park. Sean had only been to Disneyland once with Meagan and Ciciley last summer and practically studied the park map while spending a day there. What he saw on the map looked the same with only one _very_ noticeable (and eerie) difference – right where Space Mountain was supposed to be, there stood the iconic 18-story geodesic sphere from Walt Disney World's Epcot theme park where it was known as "Spaceship Earth."

However, on the Disneyland park map, the geodesic sphere went under the attraction name "World of Disney." The opening date for the attraction was listed for July 2011. Upon seeing the date, Sean instinctively asked the three blondes, "What is today?"

Feather turned her head, looking a little confused. "Huh?"

"Today…What's today?"

Exchanging puzzled glances with Danny and Aubrie, Feather answered, "It's Thursday."

"No, I mean the date." Sean clarified.

The four suddenly stopped just a few feet from the ticket booth near the intersection and Danny inquired in great concern, "Sean, are you okay? We don't have to go if you're…"

"Would you _please_ just tell me the date?" Sean frantically requested.

Aubrie paused before she replied, "It's the thirtieth of June…2011."

It was just as Sean thought…he was no longer in _his_ time, in the state of Florida, or even (possibly) in the right plane of existence. The first thing that came to mind upon receiving his answer from Aubrie was Bunsen Honeydew's machine and _where_ it currently got him.


	31. Chapter Thirty: RZ 1940  DBZ 2011

**Chapter Thirty: Realm Zone – 1940**

The Mickey Mouse March continued to resound in Joanie's ears, but it had played itself into a whistle as she began to regain consciousness. She was not certain how she lost consciousness in the first place. The last thing she remembered was stepping out of the Muppet Theater before everything went dark. Upon opening her eyes, Joanie discovered herself lying near what looked like a well, filled to the rim with gallons and gallons of water. Someone had dumped more water into the well at that moment and splashed some bits into Joanie's face, awakening her much further.

Wiping the water off her face, Joanie looked across the well to see a _very_ familiar character with two sets of iconic round ears; he barely noticed Joanie at all as he dumped two wooden buckets of water into the well and retreated indoors. As he left, Joanie seemed to have recognized who he was as she whispered, "Mickey?"

Joanie got to her feet and followed Mickey into a subterranean area that was dark, but partially lit by some strange activity that occurred in the center of the room. Stopping halfway into the room, Joanie watched along with Mickey, who stood a few feet away from her, as the sorcerer from _Fantasia_ conjured up multi-colored smoke out of a skull. The bearded sorcerer brought the smoke eight feet above his head and sparkling, pointy blue hat with a crescent moon and a few stars decorated upon it. The hat appeared to have glowed while the sorcerer was working his magic, moving his hands in a repeated upward motion to create an image out of the colorful smoke.

The image that the sorcerer was creating had a mixture of gray, blue, purple, and lime green colors; it swirled and spun until it became something that Joanie instantly recognized: the Magic Gateway's generator or _Spaceship Earth_ as Sean referred it as. The detail on the image proved that it was the same geodesic sphere that was on Bunsen Honeydew's blueprints. It seemed to Joanie that it was pure coincidence that the sorcerer conjured up an identical image of the sphere; however, the detail was too specific for it to be one. _How does he know of the sphere_, Joanie thought.

"I know everything that happens inside and outside of my world, young lady." The sorcerer answered her unspoken question, alarming Joanie greatly. The cloudy image floating above the sorcerer's head soon withdrew into the skull; once it had, the sorcerer brought his attention on Joanie, just as Mickey had at the moment he made her presence known. "I have been following your progress from the time that the worlds have shattered. Your interference in one had brought an unsettling end that cannot be removed."

When she realized that he was making reference to what happened in Agrabah, Joanie lowered her head and said in shame, "I know…and I blame myself for it like crazy."

"Don't!" The sorcerer exclaimed in a powerful tone. "Do not blame yourself for something you had no power over…use it to channel a _new_ power for something that will avenge the lives that were lost."

Curiosity grew over Joanie as she asked the sorcerer, "What do you mean?"

The sorcerer turned his attention to the skull once again and conjured up another cloudy image that was of her former alter ego, Dawn; the sight of her spooked Joanie to the point that she was forced to turn away. Noting her fear, the sorcerer stated, "Never turn away from your past; it is the one thing that fuels your future." Joanie mustered the courage to look at the image of Dawn again, tears streaming from her eyes. "You have gone through a remarkable metamorphosis upon your journey in this universe. Your time here has made you something that is on par with beings like me and my apprentice."

"That's me!" Mickey said with a happy chuckle.

"Yet you are unique in a great way." The sorcerer gestured his hands to remove the image of Dawn, transfixing it into one of Joanie wearing the sorcerer's signature hat. "You are now the link between our worlds. It shall be in your duty to maintain order and remove chaos."

Joanie's eyes lit up from the inspiring image that the sorcerer displayed for her, yet she was a little confused. "Wait. You mean…I'm some sort of enforcer?"

"It is a duty that requires complete focus, my dear." The sorcerer stated. "Your mind must always be open to both the possible and impossible."

The sorcerer's words were like rhymes to Joanie, who tried desperately to keep up with all of which she was being told. "Are you saying that I'll have to let go of the life I'm living outside of this one? No…that's out of the question! I just found out today that I'm going to have four groovy kids – including a _great_ son! And my mother…" She stopped and let out a deep sigh. "No, man…I _can't_ go through with it."

Joanie turned away from the sorcerer and began to make her way out of the room; however, something strange occurred that prevented her from leaving. The young woman suddenly froze in place, and her eyes closed shut. The sorcerer had gestured his hands toward Joanie, causing the strange, sudden incident to occur. Mickey approached the frozen Joanie and gazed upon her face, wondering if she was aware of what was happening. All of the sudden, Joanie's eyes snapped open, except they were not the normal blue that they always were; her eyes were completely white and glowing, displaying a very daunting image.

"W-What are you doing to her, M-Master Yen Sid?" Mickey inquired.

"I'm allowing her to understand what she must to save us all from Queen Grimhilde's wrath. This girl is the one, true hope that we have…without her…we are _all_ doomed."

"**Dimension B" Zone – 2011**

Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker stepped out of the lab just as Brandy, Michelle, Bella, Gina, and Joie crossed their path. Upon seeing them, Bunsen and Beaker were relieved that they were still in the real world. "Oh! Miss Brandy! Thank goodness you and our parallel universe friends are still here!"

"Are you alright, Bunsen?" Michelle asked in great concern.

"Never mind Lemon-Head and Carrot Top." Gina harshly said. "When are we getting out of here? We've still gotta find our brother."

Listening to the impatient Gina, Bella started to become a little frustrated; her heart was glowing red as a result. "You know, I've just about had it with your rudeness. You think _your_ brother is the only one who is missing? _Our_ brother is missing as well, so I believe you should show a little respect to those around you."

Gina's eyes had turned red as she glared upon Bella. "Joie, hold me back, girl…because I'm about to deliver a beat-down on E.T. here." Gina advanced on Bella, who flinched and let out a petrified squeal, resorting back to her timid nature.

"Knock it off!" Brandy yelled, growing annoyed with the bickering. "We have more important things going on like finding Joanie and Sean!"

Upon hearing Brandy, Bunsen questioned, "They're missing? Where did they go?"

"Joanie vanished without a trace and Sean wandered off to another version of Anaheim, California that _your_ machine transported us to, Bunsen." Brandy sounded slightly frustrated with the Muppet while delivering the last part of her information.

Shock registered on the faces of Bunsen and Beaker. "_My_ machine did that?" Beaker meeped a question to his boss, and Bunsen responded, "Yes, it is indeed a massive breakthrough, Beaker. The earlier incident must've triggered a 'reverse switch' in the machine's functionality that resulted in doing the opposite of what it normally does. Rather than transporting us to a parallel Disney universe, it was transported us to a universe parallel to the real world!"

"Yeah, not a big surprise to me, considering such technology exists in the future that I come from." Brandy's tone signified just how unimpressed she was with the discovery.

Observing the discussion, Michelle interjected and asked, "Well, Brandy, wouldn't that technology of yours be impossible if it weren't for what's happened here and now?"

Michelle's hypothesis intrigued Brandy, who stopped for a moment and thought of the possibility. Her thoughts were soon interrupted as soon as the sound of wood snapping overhead caught everyone's attention; as they looked up to it, something suddenly fell and landed hard near them. It was soon revealed to be Buzz Lightyear who had crashed to the floor; his wings were heavily damaged, as was his helmet, which had a large crack in it. Seeing the damaged space ranger, the eyes of those who stood near him grew wide with a mixture of surprise and bewilderment.

"Buzz!" Bella exclaimed as she and Michelle went to the space ranger's aid. "Are you alright?"

Beneath the cracked helmet, Buzz appeared a little dazed, but he was seemingly unharmed. "Buzz? Who's Buzz? My name's Mrs. Nesbit!" His eyes were slightly crossed, and his head was spinning around.

"Yeah, that dude is toe up." Joie observed.

"What did this to him?" Brandy wondered aloud.

"It was the Evil Queen."

A small voice spoke from behind the group, and all heads turned to see Robin emerging from a clothing rack, which he hid in since escaping from Grimhilde. The tiny frog appeared visibly scared, his small form quivering. "She made his suit backfire on him."

"Robin, are you alright?" Brandy asked.

"I guess so." Robin answered. "I-Is the Evil Queen gone? She's not still around here is she?"

"No, sweetie, it's just us now." Brandy assured. "There's nothing to be afraid of."

Robin swallowed hard and said, "Yes…there is. As long as she's around and inhabiting Tracy's body, we'll _never_ be safe."

Seeing the fear on Robin's face made Brandy more frustrated than she had already been and placed a great deal of resolve over her. She turned her attention to Bunsen and said, "My computer detected a large machine beneath the theater – that's the Magic Gateway's generator?"

Bunsen nodded. "Yes, it houses the second gateway mechanism."

"Then that's what we'll use to fix all of this once and for all. We're getting our friends and family back, and we're getting Buzz, Beast, and Her Majesty back in their proper dimensions as well." Brandy boldly declared.

"It'll be impossible to reach the generator now that we're in a different dimension, Miss Brandy." Bunsen indicated. "The only access to it was a system built by the DHARMA Initiative; unfortunately, it does not exist here in this universe."

"My wristband enables me to teleport between dimensions, remember?" Brandy clarified. "All I need is to reprogram it to teleport between dimensions within the same space and time, and I'll be within the boundaries of the generator in no time."

Bunsen nodded in agreement with her plan, but he was still worried about one issue. "What about Beaker and me? You will be able to teleport there, but we are still stuck here."

"You two _aren't_ coming with me."

Beaker meeped in a rather angry tone, which Bunsen acknowledged in the same manner. "I agree, Beaker. I _must_ object to your idea of going alone in a machine that _we_ designed, Miss Brandy."

"I've studied your machine for years, Bunsen. It is how I've come to develop the technology I have that matches with it." Brandy indicated her wristband device as evidence to back up her claim. "Although it is considered a marvelous relic from where I come from, I consider it a curse to humanity. As soon as I have solved all of the problems it has caused, I'm going to _destroy_ it for good."

Before Bunsen or Beaker could have a say on her decision, Brandy activated her wristband and instantly vanished from the eyes of everyone in the room. Watching her departure, the Muppet scientists felt very uneasy with what she had declared. The nervousness was clear on their faces, and Joie decided to make light of the situation by jokingly asking them, "Dude…you think she was serious?"


	32. Chapter Thirty One: DBZ 2011

**Chapter Thirty-One: "Dimension B" Zone – 2011**

The immense geodesic sphere practically shadowed over most of the attractions in the Tomorrowland area, including _Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters_ and _Star Tours_. Staring up at its towering structure, Sean got a sense of déjà vu; he was so used to seeing it up close in the Epcot theme park in _Walt Disney World_, standing so tall and shiny in the midst of nothing but a garden of beautiful flowers and well-structured hedges. Sean could not deny that there was also a sense of oddity in what he was seeing: a _Disney World_ attraction in _Disneyland_, only much different from the one that Sean was familiar where he came from. There was not enough time to process its origins as the women Sean was with at the time seemed highly anxious to check it out.

"This ride is twenty-nine years in the making…literally!" Feather stated. "Rumor has it that Disney Imagineers kept it hidden within a secret warehouse somewhere far out in the Mojave Desert to prep it for its imminent debut next month."

"Why did they keep it hidden for that long? And in a Mojave Desert warehouse of all places?" Aubrie questioned.

Feather shrugged. "Who knows?"

"And who cares?" Danny snapped. "I just wanna see this thing in action! To think, we can finally go _into_ the cartoons that we all grew up watching as kids – _Beauty and the Beast_, _Pinocchio_, _The Fox and the Hound_, _Cinderella_…the list could go on and on!"

Whereas the three blondes were beyond ecstatic, Sean appeared very hopeful; the machine could be his only access back into the world of Disney, finding out where his sisters might have gone. As he approached the front of the attraction (which looked much like the _Spaceship Earth_ attraction from his reality) with Feather, Danny, and Aubrie, the four soon discovered that people were walking _away_ from it rather than _into_ it. Observing the scene, Aubrie asked, "Um…what's going on?"

Feather quickly spotted one of the cast members for the attraction and forwarded Aubrie's question over to him. The cast member responded, "The ride's been shut down for the moment, due to technical difficulties."

Needless to say, Danny did not take the news lightly. "What? You've gotta be kidding me, man! You had twenty-nine years to do test runs with this thing, and you're _already_ havin' technical difficulties?"

"What kind of technical difficulties are they having?" Aubrie inquired.

"I don't know." The cast member replied. "Something about the machine shutting us out from the 'Disney Worlds' or whatever. Look, folks, I'm just as confused as you are about this thing. I don't know how it works."

"No, but you do know how to put on a good poker face, Lady Gaga." Danny retorted.

Her comment stemmed an argument between her and the cast member that Feather and Aubrie were quickly forced to break up. Sean just looked on the incident with amusement, seeing just how much of a loose cannon Danny was. _I feel a little sorry my counterpart to have to deal with her on a bad day_, Sean thought to himself. It was only then that he realized the perfect opportunity standing out in front of him while Danny created the scene between her and the cast member: he could walk right into the attraction undetected. If there was one thing that Danny was not overacting on, it was the notion that the ride was suffering any "technical difficulties."

Not hesitating whatsoever, Sean moved into the loading area of the attraction without being seen by anyone, including other cast members. As he passed through the area, he spotted one noticeable difference: the mural that represented the ages of science and technology had been replaced with one of the "D" in Walt Disney's signature that was animated to look like galaxy. Sean found the new mural to be original and creative; it was a perfect representation of the universe that Bunsen Honeydew's machine had created, if not an _actual_ model of it from the outside. Continuing on his path, Sean expected to have entered a loading area that was just the same as the one from the ride that he knew; however, he soon discovered something vastly different…

Expecting to have entered a room with Omnimover vehicles passing through with cast members either waiting to guide riders into them or standing near a control panel, Sean walked into a large, circular room with five enormous steel doors at all sides, one of which was the entrance that Sean walked through. The room was chrome-plated with only the doors serving any type of décor with their teal colors. Beside each door were scanners reserved for palms, which presented a challenge to Sean since he did not have the proper DNA access for them. Hoping for the best, he approached the door directly across from the one he entered through and pressed his palm against the scanner. A beam of light from the scanner went down from the tip of his fingers to the bottom of his palm, detecting every portion of his hand.

Much to Sean's surprise, the door slid open, granting him access to whatever laid beyond it. Cautiously, Sean walked through the opened door and entered a gigantic area that literally sparked with energy. It was shaped in the same manner of the sphere it was contained in; its walls followed with the exterior structure. In the very center of the room was a large mechanism consisted of a glass cylinder that contained a glowing, spinning, and floating mini version of the geodesic sphere he was in with the exception of it being orange. It did not take much to figure that the mechanism was in actuality the sphere's core generator – the true power source of Bunsen Honeydew's Magic Gateway machine.

It was science that Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Stephen Hawking, and many other scientists could never have imagined to happen, yet somehow Bunsen Honeydew managed to create it. Sean approached the mechanism, traversing across a walkway that led straight to the control panel for it. At the moment he arrived upon the panel, something very strange occurred: the sphere glowed brighter than it already was, almost blinding Sean, and a deep, electronic voice sounded from seemingly out of nowhere. It carried throughout the entire room, making everything from the control panel to the walkway vibrate under its booming tone.

"Welcome, Sean Thomas." The voice said. "We have estimated your arrival for some time. Your settings are exactly as you have left them in the time zone of 2037. All that is required is your chosen realm time, and you shall return within the world of Disney."

Listening to the voice, Sean was surprised and confused that it knew him by name more so than he was over the fact that the machine was referring to the same year from which his future daughter came from. It made him wonder just what type of man he would become in twenty-seven years to be involved with such a complex form of machinery. Wherever (or whenever) it came from was question that he did not have the time or intelligence to ponder; he needed to find his sisters and, if possible, Joanie as well. The only problem was that Sean did not know where or when to start.

Any "realm time" could have been a good start, but the one that came to mind for Sean at the moment was the one that had been stuck on his mind since he had gotten involved with this machine. Without a second thought, he said to the machine, "Realm Zone…1937."

As soon as he input his chosen destination, the mini-sphere within the glass cylinder spun more rapidly until it was practically a blur; its glow intensified until the entire room was consumed with white light. Once the transaction was complete, the glow dispersed and the mini-sphere slowed down to its normal orbit. Everything in the room was exactly the same as before with the only difference being that Sean was no longer inside of it. The door leading inside the core room of the geodesic sphere closed shut, preventing any one else from entering.

* * *

Within an entirely different sphere at an entirely different location, Brandy had materialized upon the walkway leading to the generator, courtesy of her special wristband. The machine did not react to her presence and continued function as it normally did, allowing Brandy to approach the control panel without any interference. None of what she was seeing in the core room impressed her at all; she mostly kept her focus on the task at hand, which was operating the machine to bring her aunts, her grandmother, and her great-grandmother back to their respective times. Brandy figured the situation between Tracy and Queen Grimhilde could have been easily taken care of with _her_ technology, not Bunsen's.

Brandy did not waste any time in approaching the control panel in front of the generator. Just as her hand got near it, she suddenly found herself unable to move her fingers anywhere over the buttons and switches. Her body had become very stiff as if all of her joints were locked in place, making him impossible to even twitch her eye. She then unexpectedly dropped to the hard, chrome floor and was pinned down to it by an undetectable source.

Of course, the source soon revealed itself once Queen Grimhilde – still inhibiting the form of Tracy Belcher – walked right into Brandy's view from her left side; she stood over her with a devilish grin that brought an uncharacteristic sinister effect over Tracy's appearance. Brandy was on the verge of questioning how the Evil Queen come to arrive within the underground complex until Grimhilde appeared to have read the young woman's mind and said, "You're not the only one who has the power to see what goes on beyond the layers, my dear."


	33. Chapter Thirty Two: RZ 1937 TZ 1977

**Chapter Thirty-Two: Realm Zone – 1937**

Diana stared upon the group of characters that had landed within the boundaries of the chamber; some of them were familiar to her while others were less so. Each of the characters slowly began to rise to their feet, and Diana provided some help for one of them. Unbeknownst to Diana, it was one of her future granddaughters who she helped up – a very young redhead with a strong personality and went by the name of Meagan. Even as Diana helped Meagan to her feet, the young woman displayed her feisty attitude before her.

"Whatever happened to the days when people would say 'Excuse me' before sending them into a parallel universe?" Meagan dusted herself off before turning to the woman who helped her up and showing some sincere gratitude. "Thank you for…" As soon as she looked at her face, she stopped and stared with her mouth opened wide in surprise. "Oh, my…"

Soon the others were staring along with her, all of their eyes locked on Diana, who felt a little awkward. Tracy walked into the scene and stood beside Diana, smiling over all of the surprised stares that her long-lost aunt was getting from the group. "So this is what it's like when you've been missing for thirty-four years," Diana uttered to Tracy. "The strangest part is that it only feels like thirty-four minutes."

Tracy chuckled as she introduced Diana to Kimberly, Meagan, and Ciciley. "Aunt Dye, these are your granddaughters…Joanie's daughters." She watched as Diana stood overwhelmed from seeing the young women before her, who were looking back at her in the same manner. Diana felt like a comatose patient who just woke up and started catching up on a world that had completely passed her by.

There was a peaceful moment of silence between Diana and her future granddaughters; all of them lost in thought. The moment was soon broken once Fozzie approached Diana with Gonzo, Scooter, and Kermit and exclaimed, "Diana! We're so glad that we finally found you!"

"Joanie's been worried sick about you." Scooter added.

"Are you okay?" Gonzo asked. "Do you need us to get anything for you? Like a peanut butter and sardine sandwich or something?"

Kermit awkwardly looked to Gonzo. "Uh, Gonzo? In case you haven't noticed, we're not exactly in the right setting to get a peanut butter and sardine sandwich…not that there's _ever_ a right setting to get one."

Diana laughed over the courtesy of her Muppet friends, raising her hands in protest. "Guys, I'm good. I'm just…" She looked back over to her granddaughters, who continued to stare with much awe. "How long have you all been looking for me?"

"Well, considerin' da fact dat we've been travelin' through time and space lately, it's kinda hard ta tell." Rizzo answered.

Rizzo's answer reminded Diana of the story that Tracy recently shared with her; she was so awestruck by what just transpired that she had forgotten. "Oh, right. Well…what now?"

"How 'bout findin' a way outta here?" Clifford suggested. "Don't know about ya'll, but this place is givin' me the creeps."

"Without Bunsen knowing where we are, there's no way we can get out of here the same way we came in." Scooter indicated.

"We've got bigger problems, guys." Ciciley stated while looking out of the only window within the Queen's private chamber. "Does _this_ sight look familiar to anyone?"

Everyone gathered with Ciciley near the window to see how the bright, sunny day had been eclipsed by dark gray clouds that had shrouded the skies; fiery explosions erupted from inside each one. It was the same unnatural storm that followed the destruction of the _Aladdin_ realm – something that Ciciley, Kermit, Fozzie, Scooter, Gonzo, Bobo, and Bean bore witness to before. Upon seeing the unearthly sight, the Queen's guard muttered, "Good heavens."

"More like _bad_ heavens there, buddy." Bobo corrected the guard.

"Ya wanna share with us what dis means?" Rizzo requested.

"Remember what we told you all just after coming back to the real world from the _Aladdin_ world?" Ciciley inquired. "The world literally came apart around us because there were so many of us there, just like there are so many of us here."

Thinking back to earlier in the Muppet Theater, Scooter reminded himself along with the group, "Brandy said that if too many subjects from the real world were within one of these Disney worlds, then the world itself would collapse and cease to exist…the same way that last one did."

_BOOM! BOOM!_

A couple of tremors suddenly emerged, shaking the entire room so much that grime streamed down from the ceiling and landed over Rizzo's face. Spitting the grime out (just as he did back at the Theater), Rizzo yelled, "Why does dat keep happenin' to me?"

"The reaction's already starting." Kermit indicated. "It won't be long before we start going through the same incident as before…only this time there's _no_ escape from it."

Fozzie nervously nibbled on his fingers before he moved them away and said, "There's got to be some way out of this, Kermit. We can't just stay here and wait for things to get worse!"

As the others were mulling over a way out of their situation, Tracy spotted Queen Grimhilde's book of spells on a nearby podium; she left it open, possibly having little time to close it when transferring her subconscious within Tracy's body in the real world. Tracy approached the book with hope in finding a solution to the group's dilemma; what she found was a book filled with text that she could barely comprehend. The book contained spells written in a dead language that Tracy could barely recognize; however, they were titled in plain English. Tracy found one spell listed under "Transference," which was where she guessed the Evil Queen got her one spell from. There were at least five different spells listed in the section, leaving Tracy with hardly much choice.

Diana soon spotted Tracy with the book and asked, "Whatcha got going there, Trace?"

Turning to her aunt, Tracy looked to her and the others with a hopeful look upon her (the Queen's) face. "I'm not sure, but…I think it's the answer to our problem. One of the spells here is the same one the Queen used to switch places with me. Maybe another spell can take me back to the real world, so I can find a way to get you all out of here – perhaps even get my old self back, too."

"Well, go on with ya bad self." Clifford encouraged.

"Yeah, get it over with while there's still time to save our butts." Meagan added to her.

Tracy was about to recite the spell that she found in the book until the guard stepped forward and said, "Wait! If you _are_ returning to your world, you'll want to wear this." The guard handed a dark cloak over to Tracy, who accepted it with a hint of confusion. "It is the Queen's. I believe it will serve some use if you are returning to the world she had banished you from.

Diana nodded in approval for the guard's idea with the cloak. "Good idea. If she's still there in the Theater, I'm sure she won't be too happy with seeing her own face again."

Once Tracy was in agreement with the idea also, she placed the cloak over herself; it instantly obscured the face of Queen Grimhilde, making it difficult to see who she was. As soon as the disguise was in place, Tracy commenced in reciting the spell that she found in the book. After the spell was recited, the form of Tracy/Grimhilde became translucent, which she found to be very alarming at first. The others could see right through her body up until the point where she was no longer in the room with them.

**Time Zone – 1977 (Before Temporal Displacement)**

Tracy found herself standing in the back alley of the Muppet Theater; the stage door was not very far from where she stood near a collection of garbage cans. Joanie's brown Lincoln Versailles was parked just across from her, looking as brand new as it did when she bought it…thirty-four years ago. The sight of the vehicle was enough of a clue for Tracy to discover that she did not transfer back to the real world of 2011 subsequent to everything that she and everyone else had been through, but rather the real world of 1977 prior to the events. The help that she was hoping to get or any chance of finding Queen Grimhilde and her true form was not coming, leaving the spell completely wasted.

Suddenly, she heard the stage door open; her eyes were directed to it just as Joanie and Robin came out into the alley and approached the parked Lincoln. Neither Joanie nor Robin seemed to have known that Tracy was standing there until Robin, after hopping into the Lincoln, pointed to where she was standing and asked, "Hey, Joanie, who's that?"

Joanie followed his gaze and spotted Tracy where she stood, which greatly alarmed her. The plan was not to find any help from the past; that only seemed pointless to Tracy. Ironically, just as that notion came to mind, Joanie asked her, "May I help you?"

Tracy wanted to tell Joanie there and then all that was going to happen to her – from her mother going missing for thirty-four years to having the rare pleasure to seeing her future children, all thanks to Bunsen Honeydew's unique machine. It was an opportunity that was just as open as when Tracy encountered her aunt moments ago in the _Snow White_ realm, but it would be more difficult convincing Joanie of who she was before any of the events that they had been through together happened. As these thoughts ran through Tracy's mind, it became clear what the only thing she could tell Joanie at that time could have been…the only hint of advice that she would recognize and take with her. Rather than stating it in plain English (speaking with a voice that Joanie would be unfamiliar to her), Tracy decided to take the same approach that Diana took: speaking in Swahili.

"Huwezi kuzuia kwepeka."

The spellbound look on Joanie's face told Tracy just how great of an effect what she said to her left. Joanie continued staring her way and barely heard Robin as he asked, "What did she say?"

_BOOM!_

Tracy nearly jumped as she felt the immense tremor that came simultaneously with the loud noise emitting from inside the Muppet Theater. Robin and Joanie's attention quickly went away from Tracy and on the stage door, which had hints of smoke seeping through it. Tracy was not sure what the explosion was, but she figured that it had something to do with Bunsen's machine. It was a sign to her that it was not too late to change things for the better. Tracy opened her mouth to shout to Joanie, but transference occurred before she could utter even a syllable.

**Realm Zone – 1937**

"Joanie! Don't go in there!"

Tracy's warning came out just as she unexpectedly reappeared in the Queen's private chamber; she was no longer shouting to Joanie, but to Diana and the others instead. The transference occurred without her consent, leaving her to deduce that the spell was only temporary, much to her dismay. The others looked on in confusion and great hope seeing Tracy back in the room. Breaking the awkward silence that had come over the room upon her return, Kermit uttered, "You're back already?"

Tracy could not believe she was back in the chamber either. "How long was I gone?"

"Well, you vanished right in front of us for one second and then reappeared on the next." Bean informed.

"You shouted for Joanie not to go anywhere." Diana pointed out. "Where was she going?"

A distraught look appeared on the Queen's face as Tracy responded, "I don't know. It wasn't the same place where we left before coming here. It was 1977 again…I was in the alley behind the Theater, and Joanie and Robin were about to leave somewhere in Joanie's car. They saw me there, and I…"

Picking up on Tracy's description, Diana came to a realization. "Wait! Was there an explosion while you were there?"

"Something exploded in the Theater, yeah."

A hand went to Diana's forehead while an overwhelmed look was masked across her face. She then revealed to everyone where exactly Tracy had gone. "You went to the night that Bunsen's machine first went active."

Kermit, Scooter, Gonzo, and Fozzie were all just as overwhelmed as Diana.

"You mean…she was transferred into the past?" Scooter exclaimed.

Diana nodded. "I remember hearing and even _feeling_ the explosion while I was putting you to bed after the trip you and Joanie took to Africa, Scooter. Joanie and Robin wandered into the machine shortly after Bunsen and Beaker used it, and they disappeared to one of the Disney worlds. I remember going nuts when I found out my daughter was lost in a parallel universe, but we thankfully got her back."

Kimberly, Ciciley, Meagan, Rizzo, Pepe, Bean, Clifford, and Bobo were listening in, but only Rizzo appeared to have understood what Tracy's journey into the past could have meant for their current situation. "Well, didn't ya do anything or tell her anything ta help us outta dis?"

"I tried, but the spell brought me back here before I could've told her not to get involved." Tracy said in disappointment. "I'm sorry."

Her apology did not seem to bring any peace over Rizzo as the rat yelled, "Well, dat's just great! Da one chance we had ta prevent all dis from happenin' and now we won't get another shot at it!"

"Yeah, well… Huwezi kuzuia kwepeka, Rizzo." Tracy uttered with frustration.

Diana's ears perked when she heard those Swahili words. "What did you say, Tracy?"

"It's what I told Joanie while I was there." Tracy remarked. "It means…"

"'You cannot prevent the inevitable.'" Diana translated in a soothing voice.

The others were confused with the meaning behind the message, which led Kermit to ask Tracy, "What made you tell Joanie that?"

The answer to Kermit's question did not come from Tracy, but Diana instead. "Because it's what Joanie's father told her…before he passed away."

Diana's answer brought silence over the group once again; some of them could not help but to see the irony in the message with the situation that was happening there and then. More explosions rang through the air, breaking the silence, and flashes came through the window of the chamber. In immense curiosity, the group moved back to the window and saw how more violent the fiery sky was becoming over the land. Hope began to disperse among the group, seeing no other alternative in escaping the dire fate that awaited them.


	34. Chapter Thirty Three: DBZ 2011 RZ 1937

**Chapter Thirty-Three: Dimension B Zone – 2011**

The semi-conscious Buzz Lightyear rambled beneath his cracked helmet for minutes. Joie, Bella, Michelle, Gina, and Robin were listening closely to what he was saying, and none of it seemed to make much sense to Bunsen or Beaker, who were listening as well. "Woody…You were right…I'm not…a real space ranger…just a toy…"

"What is he talking about?" Bunsen asked.

"He thinks he's a toy. Isn't it obvious?" Joie told Bunsen.

"Only he's not a toy…he's a _real_ space ranger." Robin stated. "Well, at least in this world he is; in the other, he's…well…a child's play thing."

"Here or there, he's still a sad, strange little man." Gina said.

Seeing how bad out of shape Buzz was in, Robin shook his head. "We have to get him to a doctor."

"Robin, sweetie, I don't think it's a good idea to take a six-foot space ranger to a hospital in a parallel dimension." Michelle contradicted.

"Well, he's badly injured. We can't just leave him here. His injuries might get worse than they are." Robin indicated. "He's got to go back to being a toy. He's got to return to his world."

Bunsen could see how distraught the tiny frog was over the space ranger's condition, yet he felt utterly helpless to the situation. Neither he nor Beaker knew what Brandy was up to in the backup generator underground, and the thought of her tampering with the equipment, especially after she threatened to destroy the machine, made them quite uneasy. Then there was the loud roar of the Beast that was contained in the dressing room upstairs, followed by the sound of him clawing at the door, signifying his impatience with being confined there. The clawing grew louder and fiercer than the last time Bunsen and Beaker heard it, which made the Muppet scientists just as nervous as before.

Joie and the others heard the clawing as well, but only Bella, Michelle, and Robin were unnerved from the loud, fierce sound of it; Joie and Gina were bracing themselves for trouble. "Sounds like someone else wants to go back and _real_ bad," Joie notified.

The clawing over the dressing room door continued until it abruptly stopped. All eyes focused on the door as the room fell silent, save for Buzz's ramblings. After a few seconds, the door suddenly exploded to pieces as the Beast busted out of the dressing room and emerged on the upstairs landing, snarling at everything in the sight, including the group of strangers downstairs. Bunsen and Beaker trembled, hiding near the equally terrified Bella and Michelle, while Joie and Gina stood up and prepare to do battle with the Beast.

Beaker meeped an observation to Bunsen to which the Muppet scientist remarked with a hint of sarcasm, "Yes, Beaker, thank you for reminding me of the Mind Control Spray's temporary effects at this precise moment."

The Beast leaped from the upstairs landing and hit the floor below with a tremendous _thud_, his weight snapping the wooden floorboards beneath him. Snarling more ferocious than before, the Beast demanded, "Take me back to my castle!"

"Whoa, dude! How 'bout we work on your people skills first?" Gina suggested. "Try sayin' '_Please_ take me back to my castle.'"

_RRRRAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHH!_

The Beast bellowed with impatience; his roar practically shook the room. At first, the group believed that the Beast was so angry that he would lunge at them; Joie and Gina prepared themselves for if he had done so. It was when the Beast suddenly calmed down, ceasing any further bellowing and snarling, when the group witnessed a sudden change in attitude over the creature. No longer was he an untamed monster; he was simply just calm. The Beast stared upon the group with emotionless eyes, seeming to be in some hypnotic state, much like how he was while under the effects of the Mind Control Spray.

Gina, believing that her assertive approach worked over the Beast, smiled and said, "Now that's much better…looks like we're finally gettin' somewhere with this thing."

A calm female voice soon spoke out from behind the Beast and revealed, "Sorry, Gina. It wasn't you. It was me." The group could not see whom the voice belonged, due to the Beast's large form concealing her appearance. Soon the speaker revealed herself, stepping around the Beast and showing herself to the group. Robin gasped over the sight of the woman standing before them, his eyes growing wide with mixed emotions.

Then a name escaped Robin's lips as he whispered, "Joanie?"

**Realm Zone – 1937**

Rematerializing amidst a forest, Sean arrived in the _Snow White_ realm to a scene of utter chaos. Several woodland creatures were scouring for cover, a massive gust of wind was blowing hard and fast through the area, and the sky was looking the exact same way it did in the _Aladdin_ realm. The horrifying display came as an immediate sign to Sean that the Disney world he had arrived in was coming to an end. He remembered Brandy's warning about too many real world subjects being in one world leading to catastrophic circumstances. It made him wonder just how many subjects were in the realm, other than himself and his grandmother.

"Hey, sonny! Watch where you're standin'!" He heard someone in a _grumpy_ tone of voice shout out to him.

Sean looked around to see where the voice came from, but he saw no one. Another voice soon spoke out to him, sounding _happy_ compared with the previous one. "Down here." He looked down and spotted seven dwarfs – _the_ seven dwarfs – walking past him.

"Wh-What are you doing here, son? There's a dorm, I-I mean, there's a storm brewing!" Doc warned. "Y-You've got to get out of it before you end up hurt or horse, I-I mean, worse!"

"I've got to find the Queen's castle," Sean said. "There's someone there that I need to get out."

"The Queen?" The dwarfs exclaimed in shock.

Grumpy waved Sean off with a scoff. "Well, good luck to ya. No one's ever made it out of that witch's castle alive, I tell ya."

"The Queen isn't there anymore." Sean revealed to the dwarfs. "I can't explain it because it won't make any sense to any of you, but she's not the same woman you know her as here." The dwarfs stared at him with befuddled expressions, leading Sean to shaking his head and admitting, "I'm wasting my time. I need to find that castle."

Sean ran in the opposite direction that the dwarfs were moving in, not knowing exactly where he was going. They watched him leave with mixed emotions – whereas Doc, Bashful, Happy, Sneezy, Sleepy, Dopey showed some pity for him in foolishly searching for the Queen's castle, Grumpy would rather mind his business and continue on their path. Of course, Grumpy was outnumbered by one to six on the sudden decision to assist Sean in his foolhardy mission, choosing not to let the stranger get involved in something that he could not get himself out from.

"Wait! You're going the wrong way!" Doc shouted as he and the other five helpful dwarfs caught up with Sean.

Watching the other Dwarfs chase after Sean, Grumpy grew even grumpier and yelled in a total fit of anger, "Ya gotta be pullin' my beard!" He then stormed after them, wondering to himself what made him and the other dwarfs want to get involved with such a reckless stranger.

**Dimension B Zone – 2011**

Queen Grimhilde stood before the glistening generator machine within the sphere beneath the Muppet Theater; she was truly impressed by its grand design, bearing witness to nothing like it in her entire life. The glowing, spinning mini-sphere within the glass cylinder reflected in the eyes of the woman whose body Grimhilde had possessed. "It truly is beautiful," she softly said, "The key to endless worlds…within my very reach."

Still pinned down to the floor just behind Grimhilde was Brandy, who tried desperately to move her arms to gain access to her wristband; unfortunately, with her arms pinned at her sides, such an action was practically impossible. Moaning with aggravation, Brandy used her only weapon against the Evil Queen – her words. "That ain't gonna happen, _Your Majesty_. You don't belong in this world or any other, except for the one you escaped from."

Grimhilde turned to Brandy, laughing and smiling wickedly. "How are _you_ so sure? What part do _you_ play in all of this, if I may inquire? Who _are_ you?"

Brandy frowned. "I'm no one. I don't even exist yet…and I probably never will after all that has happened or _will_ happen." She chuckled amusingly and added, "I assured the guy who built all of this that I would destroy it once I've corrected everything, but I didn't take into consideration how much that would mess up the order of time. For all I know, destroying this machine could very well prevent my own conception."

Listening to Brandy, Grimhilde was completely puzzled by what she was talking about; at one point in her ramblings, it seemed that she was talking more to herself than the Queen. Grimhilde made her best deduction of Brandy's dilemma: "Sounds as if you are unsure of your own destiny. If that be the case, perhaps you were never meant to exist; therefore, you have no purpose in stopping me in my goal."

The Queen turned to face the machine again until Brandy spoke up once again. "Maybe…but if I cease to exist after the moment you take control of this machine, there will someone else to stop you."

Grimhilde's smile grew over Tracy's face. "Like who?"

"Like _me_!"

A third voice spoke out within the confides of the sphere; Grimhilde looked all about for it and finally spotted a shimmering figure floating just above the walkway that she and Brandy were upon. The face of the intruder was visible enough for Grimhilde to recognize; it was the face of Joanie Navarro, the very woman who she believed to have ended moments ago. Joanie bore the hat of the sorcerer, Yen Sid, and the red robe that was normally seen on his apprentice; both pieces of cloth practically glowed on her, overwhelming even the light of the mini-sphere within the generator mechanism. The most daunting part of Joanie's unearthly appearance was her eyes, which lacked the usual blue iris and pupil center, consumed entirely in white.

Grimhilde displayed genuine fear upon witnessing the unexpected arrival of Joanie. "Fair one? How can it be? How do you continue to live?"

"Clearly you're not very good at getting rid of anybody." Joanie bantered while lowering herself down to the walkway, landing just beside Brandy, who was equally surprised to see her. "I'm only going to say this once, Grimhilde…leave my granddaughter alone!"

Turning her attention to Brandy, Joanie waved a single hand over her pinned-down body. The next thing Brandy knew, she regained usage of her limbs, no longer feeling herself being held down; she stood back up on her feet and leaned against the walkway's railing, staring up at her grandmother with thankful, teary eyes. "I'm sorry, Grandmama. I've let you down. I've let everybody down."

Joanie shook her head. "No, you haven't, sweetheart."

"Of course she has!" Grimhilde exclaimed. "She hasn't stopped me from…" The mouth of the Evil Queen suddenly went shut, and her entire body froze in place. It did not take much guessing for Grimhilde to realize that Joanie was using her sorcery on her.

Joanie glared to the Queen, with her arm outstretched to her, and stated, "If you don't mind, this is _family_ business. I'll deal with you in a bit." She then returned her attention back to Brandy, her façade quickly changing from intimidating to comforting in a matter of seconds. "I understand your fears, but you mustn't focus so much on the past. You must focus on your future. It's what Sean would want you to do."

Tears streamed down from Brandy's eyes. "I'm not sure if I even have a future left anymore."

With her other hand, Joanie gently touched Brandy's face; its warmth brought serenity over the stressed young woman – a feeling she had not felt for as long as she could remember. Joanie's soothing voice was just as comforting as she told her, "You do, Brandy…and you can go back to it now…and remember nothing of your time in the past."

Unbeknownst to Brandy, her face began to glow in the same way that Joanie's form was. It was not before long when her entire body glowed brighter and brighter until she was only a beacon of light that had soon extinguished before Joanie's eyes, which weld up with tears. Grimhilde, in her frozen state, witnessed the scene with mixed feelings of trepidation and confusion, wondering just where Joanie had done to Brandy. After a moment of silence, Joanie turned her attention to Grimhilde, the generator towering behind her.

Without saying another word to her, Joanie lifted before of her arms high and closed her eyes. Grimhilde felt the hold over come loose, regaining her speech again. "You wench! What have you…?" The Evil Queen stopped once a loud whistling sound came through the area, forcing her to cover her eyes from it. It was such a distracting noise that Grimhilde's concentration had been disrupted, dropping to her knees and screaming in agony.

Everything within the sphere from the walkway to the walls began to vibrate violently. The mini-sphere in the generator mechanism spun so fast that it became a blur, yet it also changed a rainbow of colors in the process. The sphere's chrome structure soon mimicked the mini-sphere's color changes; there were enough of them to boggle anyone's vision. All of the chaos seemed to have resulted from Joanie, who used her immense powers to make it all happen; she was in total control of the enormous machine.

In the midst of the chaos, Queen Grimhilde was undergoing a transformation of her own; the form that she had taken, being that of Tracy Belcher, began to "melt" away and expose her true form. The Evil Queen looked upon herself and witnessed the transformation as it occurred, becoming mortified that such sorcery – which she had no control over – had overpowered her so. All she could do in reaction was scream, "No…no…NO!"

**Realm Zone – 1937**

Everyone watched in shock as the form of Queen Grimhilde "melted" off of Tracy, leaving only her real form out in the open. After the transformation had passed, Tracy went to the Magic Mirror and smiled with great joy from seeing her real face again. "Hey! I'm me again!"

"Uh…yeah." Kimberly said, inundated by what she saw happen to her cousin. "You apparently are."

"But how?" Diana curiously questioned.

Touching her face, Tracy responded, "I don't know. I didn't use any spells from the Queen's book. Maybe it was…"

_KURACK-BOOM!_

Another massive tremor took apart a section of the wall in the Queen's private chamber, leaving the group staring upon the horrifying view of a once-enchanted land plagued by total anarchy. As the fiery sky loomed over the land, more immense tremors cracked the earth apart, knocking over several trees and putting many woodland creatures in severe danger. A huge gust of wind blew through the private chamber, knocking over bits of furniture, including the Magic Mirror, which shattered upon hitting the floor. The door to the chamber soon came off its hinges, but it was not because of the chaotic situation at hand.

Sean and the seven dwarfs arrived inside the private chamber, discovering the endangered group of people there. Upon entering, Sean's eyes locked immediately with Diana's, both meeting for the first time. Seeing his grandmother brought an astounding feeling over Sean; he barely knew that his sisters, Tracy, and the Muppets were in the room as well. A large smile emerged on Sean's face as he moved toward his grandmother; if there was one thing he wanted to do before the world came to end around them, it was having a chance to hug her.

Just as he took a step…

_BOOM!_

An enormous tremor shook the room much fiercer than the previous ones did, causing chunks of the stone ceiling to break away and violently land upon Sean. Upon watching him go down, his friends and family all cried out in horror, "SEAN!" He was barely conscious as he was pinned to the floor with many scrapes and bruises.

The dwarfs immediately got to work on removing the debris off Sean, using their mining skills to get it done fast and properly. They soon got help from the Queen's guard, as well as Fozzie and Bobo, getting the job finished much sooner than expected. As soon as all the debris was away, Diana went to Sean's aid, gently lifting his upper body and resting it upon her kneeling form. Diana touched her future grandson's face, which made him open his eyes slowly, looking up at her face that was masked with tears. "Stay with me, sweetie," Diana softly told him, "you're gonna be okay."

Sean weakly smiled and whispered, "I've…f-f-found…y-you…"

It was the last words he had said before his eyes went shut once more, and his head went limp. Diana realized to her instant terror that her grandson was gone, passing away right in her arms. The sight of her brother's passing horrified Meagan as she clung to his lifeless body, repeatedly crying out his name. Ciciley and Kimberly burst out in tears as well, as did Tracy and the Muppets. The Queen's guard and the seven dwarfs removed their hats and lowered their heads in mourning of the brave young man, who they wished to have known much longer than the people around him – a feeling that was mutual with Diana, who wept over her fallen grandson.

In the corner of Diana's eye, an intense light shined through the hole that had formed in the wall. Even though she did not want to take her eyes off her grandson, Diana somehow brought herself to see what the light was. To her surprise, something much brighter than a sun had broken through the fiery, dark gray clouds. Having no knowledge or interest of what it was, Diana returned her focus on Sean…only to discover that he was no longer in her arms.

"What the…?" She heard Gonzo exclaimed, leading her to looking up and discovering that Kimberly, Ciciley, Meagan, Tracy, Rizzo, Pepe, Bobo, Bean, and Clifford had vanished as well.

"W…Where did they go?" Kermit frantically asked.

Diana realized that she, Kermit, Gonzo, Fozzie, and Scooter were the only ones left within the Queen's private chamber, along with the guard and seven dwarfs. Completely perplexed of what was happening, Diana returned her gaze to the mysterious light that had emerged in the sky, as it appeared to be glowing brighter each second. It reached a point that Diana was forced to shield her eyes while everything and everyone was consumed by the light. The chaos that had ensued over the world ceased and all went quiet…and totally white.


	35. Epilogue: Time Zone & DBZ 1977

**Epilogue: Time Zone – 1977**

"Mom? Mom, can you hear me? Mom?"

Everything was still white over Diana's vision, and the voice she heard of her daughter was like a faint echo to her ears; fortunately, things started to become clearer within seconds. A figure began to materialize before Diana's eyes, wearing a pointy hat of some type from what she could make out. It was soon revealed that the figure was in fact Joanie, her face and lovely _blue_ eyes quite a welcoming visage for Diana, considering that she had not seen it for so long. Diana touched her daughter's young, beautiful face and embraced her so tight that Joanie could hardly breathe.

"It's okay, Mom. We're okay now." Joanie said with a chuckle.

Diana looked around to see that they were both back in the basement laboratory of Bunsen Honeydew with Kermit, Fozzie, Gonzo, and Scooter. Everything looked exactly as how they had left it with one notable exception: **the Magic Gateway machine was gone**. The metal arch, the chamber entranceway, and all of the computers that were attached to it were nowhere to be found. All that remained in the room were four brick walls and a desk situated at the center of the room.

Glancing over the brick walls that surrounded them, Scooter remarked, "What happened?"

The group soon heard footsteps nearby and looked upward at the top of the repaired wooden staircase that led out of the room, finding Robin standing in the doorway with Bunsen and Beaker. The tiny frog happily exclaimed, "Joanie! You did it!" He slid down the rail of the staircase and emerged amongst the group, moving to Joanie and hugging her torso, which his arms hardly got around.

Joanie embraced her small best friend by placing her hand over his back with a smile. Watching them hug, Gonzo was focused heavily on what Robin said coming in. "What _did_ Joanie do?"

"And where did you get the funny hat?" Fozzie inquired, pointing to the very sorcerer hat that Joanie was wearing.

Taking the hat off her head, Joanie brushed her red locks with her head as she explained herself to her friends and family. "This 'funny hat' was what helped me bring everything back to normal. I restored order between our world and the Disney worlds."

"She put Buzz and the Beast back where they belong." Robin clarified. "She also helped Joie, Gina, Michelle, and Bella return to their home dimensions with their brothers – the other versions of Sean."

Hearing the name of her grandson reminded Diana of how she last saw him before the restoration. "Oh, no! Sean! Is he…?"

Before her mother could finish her question, Joanie placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and informed, "He's fine, Mom. He's back in his own time with his sisters and Tracy."

"Did Rizzo and Pepe go with them?" Gonzo curiously asked.

"Yeah, what about Bobo and Clifford?" Fozzie added.

"And Bean?" Scooter also added.

Joanie nodded. "They're all back where they belong…thirty-four years ahead of our present…and with no memory of everything that happened."

Kermit's mouth opened wide with amusement. "You mean…you made them forget about Bunsen's machine, the Disney worlds, and…us?"

"I didn't have to make them forget, Kermit," Joanie elucidated, "because – from their point of view – everything is completely normal. I guess you can say that I might've inspired an alternate reality for them…in which all of us are still together and as happy as we can be."

Robin smiled upon the thought. "Our own 'Happily Ever After.'"

"That's right, Robin." Joanie acknowledged with an enlightened smile.

"So…we'll get to see them again…in the future?" Fozzie asked with a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

"Of course we will." Joanie confirmed. "We may start to see a few of them much sooner than expected."

Although Joanie's confirmation brought some ease over the bear, Fozzie was still a bit unsettled by one thing: "It's still gonna be hard knowing all that we been through with them and, to them, none of it ever happened."

"But that's what will make our connection with them stronger than it ever was before all of this happened, Fozzie." Diana indicated. "We'll cherish the time we spent in our adventure and see them in ways not many other friends or families could ever see each other." Diana got very misty-eyed upon adding, "I'll get to see my grandson, hold him in my arms, and tell him how much I truly love him."

Her mother's words made Joanie quite misty-eyed herself. "I wouldn't trade the experience we had for anything in this world or the next. I'm no longer worried about what my future will bring…because I've seen one possible future with new resolve." She then looked to Bunsen and Beaker, who had moved into the basement and faced the very brick wall where the Magic Gateway machine used to be. "Bunsen, I'm sorry about your invention."

The Muppet scientist looked down and sighed. "It's quite alright, Miss Joanie." He and Beaker turned and faced her, both smiling confidently. "It was a machine not meant for humanity to discover. I only hope that wherever you sent it, it will _never_ be discovered or tampered with by _anyone_."

Thinking of Bunsen's machine led Robin to ponder over one other person who the group met in their journey. "Joanie, what about Brandy? What will become of her in this _new_ future you've inspired?"

Joanie shrugged in response. "I don't know, Robin. It really depends on how Sean decides to live _his_ present…she _is_ his daughter after all."

The revelation came as a total surprise to all of the Muppets. "WHAT?"

Laughing over their reaction, Joanie quickly changed the subject before it moved on any further. "Hey, let's just get back to the way things were. I am just dyin' to see that new space movie!"

Kermit nodded in approval with her idea. "Yeah. Me, too."

"You mean you'll come with us, Uncle Kermit?" Robin said with excitement.

"Of course. I'll always have time for my family, Robin." Kermit said, putting his arm over his nephew's small shoulders, which overjoyed the tiny frog more than his uncle could imagine.

Once everyone was in agreement for seeing the movie together, they started to make their way out of the basement. The last ones left in the room were Joanie and Diana. Diana waited for her daughter to place her sole souvenir from their adventure, Yen Sid's sorcerer hat, upon the desk in the basement. When Joanie went back to her mother's side, Diana could not help but to gaze upon her red locks with a sense of dissatisfaction.

"We need to fix that hair of yours first thing tomorrow." Diana demanded.

"What?" Joanie said with a chuckle. "I like it like this, Mom."

"Joanie, the women of our family have _always_ been brunettes. It's been that way long before I was changing your diapers. I am _not_ going to let you tarnish such a legacy by going redhead."

"O.K. Well, I guess I'll just go purple then."

With the snap of her fingers, Joanie's hair color magically transformed from red to purple, much to the surprise and displeasure of her mother.

"No, no! Red's fine! Red's fine!"

Snapping her fingers once more, Joanie's hair switched back to red.

Diana shook her head and smiled while she and her daughter started moving up the staircase. "I'm never going to get used to this new sorceress lifestyle you've taken on."

"I just hope I'll get pass brushing my hair with a fork. Seriously, man, what is up with that?"

Once the two women were out of the basement, Diana switched off the lights and shut the door, leaving the area in total darkness. In the pitch blackness, the sorcerer hat glowed brighter than a light bulb, providing the only source of illumination as it sat upon the desk.

**Dimension B Zone – 1977**

A black Lincoln Versailles drove through the Mojave Desert under the intense afternoon sun, kicking up huge dirt clouds in its wake. It traversed across five miles before coming to a stop near a cliff that overlooked the largest portion of the Mojave. The driver, a young redheaded woman in a black suit, stepped out and bravely approached the cliff. Clipped to the left breast pocket of the woman's suit was an FBI badge that had the name "Nicole Smith" printed on it with the image of Nicole's face right above it. At that particular moment, Nicole's face was hidden beneath of pair of binoculars that she used to gaze upon a shimmering object in the distance.

Adjusting the focus on the binoculars, Nicole got a clear view of the distant object: **an 18-story geodesic sphere**. It was sitting within a massive crater, smoking and sparking with electricity. Nicole was not entirely certain how the sphere had gotten there, but she realized that it was not in her jurisdiction to analyze its origins. For that, she lowered her binoculars while returning to her vehicle and hopped back in the driver's side, activating the built-in CB radio. As soon as she was tuned with the right frequency, she spoke into the microphone…

"Smith to base, Smith to base."

A voice came over the radio, directly addressing her. "This is base. Go ahead, Smith."

"I've discovered the source of the anomaly. From the looks of it, you probably won't have any luck carrying it back to base. You may just want to build a construct over it to do your research."

"We appreciate your service, Smith. Your discovery will certainly be recognized for many years to come."

Nicole smiled. "Message received, base. Over and out."

After placing the microphone back on its hook and turning off the radio, Nicole closed the car door and backed away from the cliff, driving away from the geodesic sphere of unknown origin as it continued to smoke and spark beneath the intense afternoon sun…

**World of Disney**


End file.
